A Wrench in the Plans
by Sonatawind
Summary: After a rough run with Tirek, the Wonderbolts have been concerned for their squadron and are willing to seek help from allies they aren't too fond of. Sending over three of their trainees to try out their training, it becomes quite an ordeal when a little mishap in training sets off the adventure of a life time for Rainbow Dash.
1. Prologue: An Agreement

"You sure you want to send some of your trainees to us?"

Spitfire sighed as she looked at the gray griffon that was standing before her.

"I'm sure, after that attack with Tirek we need to ready some of our fliers to fly without magic… and you are the only squadron I know that trains your flyers like that…"

_And I really hate to actually be asking for help…_

The griffon gave a bit of a smirk.

"So it takes a magic sucking centaur for you to come talking to us for help?"

Spitfire cocked an eyebrow. "What do you mean by that?"

"Don't give me that, we've all heard the stories, like the dragon, the Young Flyers-"

"Oh be quiet or I'll rethink my offer."

The griffon raised his talons. "Now now, Spitfire, I'm just saying, we've always offered our training out of the kindness of our hearts, you just kept saying no even after the incidents happened, we just want to be sure your squadron is well tuned and ready for emergencies… not to ruffle your feathers, but I think you guys have gone soft."

Spitfire growled a little. "We. Have. Not. Gone. SOFT."

The griffon rolled his eyes. "Keep telling yourself that… Anyways, back to business, you are positive about sending some pegasi our way?"

Spitfire nodded. "I'm only sending our best trainees, no use training me or the other veteran Wonderbolts, we're stuck in our ways."

"I can understand, we can relate to that too… seeing as our methods aren't the most liked yet we stick to them anyway."

Spitfire took her turn rolling her eyes. "Your squadron has flyers that could scare the ever living daylights out of ponies, there is a reason you're stationed at your little private island out on the sea."

"It's quite nice, perfect for vacations, unlike your big floating cloud."

"You're making me rethink, soldier."

"Oh don't even start, you're not my commander, Spitfire."

"Ugh… will you take them or not?"

"Oh, we'll take them, I'm just expressing the feelings of my fellow comrades while I'm here since we rarely get the chance."

"... Why you son of a-"

"Language. Now, files?"

Spitfire heaved a heavy sigh before presenting three folders to the griffon.

"These are the ones I want you to train, they're skilled fliers, but as you would assume rely too much on their aerial magic… and don't you guys even think about giving enhancements."

The griffon laughed. "Oh please, why would we give any Wonderbolt our tech? Those are strictly for our squadron, the only things they'll be getting from us are Air Glider feathers and Hoof Guards."

_Uggghhh… Would he please stop? I get it, they don't like us and we don't like them. I just want to get this over with._

"I don't care, just get them trained so they don't rely on magic to fly, if the results are good, I will send more trainees over and you'll have more ponies to train."

The griffon grinned. "We were getting pretty low on pony trainees, this should be good."

He looked over the names… and couldn't help but be surprised when he saw the last name on the list.

"Rainbow Dash? Really?"

"Problem?"

"Oh, no, not at all, we'd love to train the pony that helped save Equestria with those friends of hers… and saved your flank during the Young Flyers Competition."

Spitfire felt heat come to her face. "We were not ready for that!"

"Riiiiight, but aside from that, we'll take her, along with the other two. We won't be having mercy on them though. If any of them comes flying home crying it's not our fault."

"Just get them trained… please."

"You got it, Spitfire."

The griffon took the files and started walking away. He stopped at the door giving another smirk.

"Though be mindful, we might keep one."

"I thought you didn't like us Wonderbolts?" Spitfire asked, a glare fixed on the griffon.

"We don't, but after training, these flyers won't be. They'll be flying like us instead of you. Tell these ponies to report to Flysenhower Island within a week. If they don't show up on time we won't train them… Also, just to note, our squadron is helping with that big race going on, so not all of us are going to be there."

He chuckled. "Sorry you guys didn't get picked, guess Celestia finally found use for us after all."

He left before Spitfire could retaliate.

She sighed, shaking her head.

_I can hate them as much as I like… but I can't deny he's wrong… We need our flyers to be stronger… and they're the last resource we can look to._

She looked at the letter she had received a few days before. Her eyes were trained on the symbol that had been stamped on the bottom of it. It resembled a skull and cross bones… but in place of the skull was something called a piston, and the cross bones had been replaced by wrenches. Not many knew what the symbol stood for. Only choice commanders of the Wonderbolts knew along with the Princesses. All of them couldn't deny one thing. They were the toughest and meanest flyers in all of Equestria, and the only squadron who knew how to fly without the aid of magic.

If they wanted the best flyers… this was the squadron to go to.

The Jolly Wrenches.


	2. Chapter 1: New Training

It was another normal day in Ponyville… or least, what Twilight Sparkle would like to call normal if it weren't for the fact Pinkie Pie wouldn't stop bouncing around her and her friends in an endless loop as they waited outside Rainbow Dash's house.

"Pinkie… would you stop?" Twilight asked, with slight irritation in her voice.

"I can't help it! Rainbow said something important is coming up and I want to know what it is SO bad! The wait is killing me!"

Twilight shook her head. "Apple Jack… can you please do something?"

"Best I don't Sugarcube. Pinkie is not a pony you want to try and pull down and make her sit still… trust me."

"Aside from that, why did Rainbow call all of us here on such short notice?" Rarity chimed in, looking up at the cloud house. "I mean… she did seem kind of worried last night."

"She was."

The ponies all looked to Fluttershy confused as they heard her soft voice.

"Do you know what's troubling her?" Twilight asked.

Fluttershy shook her head. "She didn't seem able to tell me exactly what's bothering her, all she told me was she got a letter about something… she didn't go into details but she was very worried over it, she's been thinking about it for a few days now."

"Few days? This must be something huge, this is RAINBOW we're talking about." Apple Jack said, gazing up at the house. "She's always confident about things… em… most of the time."

"Well, we'll find out what it is once she comes out."

The group of friends sat there for a little while longer as Pinkie continued her endless circle. Finally, Rainbow Dash emerged with saddle bags on her back. She had a serious look in her eyes that her friends didn't see often unless circumstances called for it.

"Hey, guys." she said with a slight smile.

"Hey, Rainbow. So, what's the big news you have? … and more importantly, why do you have your saddlebags with you?" Twilight asked.

Rainbow's smile faded as she looked at the ground a little.

"What's wrong, Dash?" Apple Jack said, putting a hoof on her shoulder. "We rarely ever see you like this."

Rainbow looked at all her friends before speaking.

"Something big has come up concerning the Wonderbolts, I've been recruited for a training program along with two other ponies. I can't tell you much about it under orders from Spitfire… I'm gonna be gone for awhile."

Her friends all gasped.

"F-For how long?!" Pinkie asked, hugging her friend tightly.

"I don't know, but they want me well trained so they're putting me on this program."

"Will we be able to write to you?" Twilight asked.

"Yes, but only you'll be able to mail them Twilight… here."

Rainbow dug into her saddlebag pulling out a little scroll handing it to Twilight.

"You're the only one allowed to read this according to Spitfire, and you have to swear you won't reveal any of the contents to anyone else… including the rest of our friends."

Rainbow looked at the rest giving a sorry look. "I wish I could tell you guys, but Spitfire says this is really heavy stuff that's only for the military and royalty to know."

They all looked at each other before nodding.

"We understand." Apple Jack said. "We're just gonna miss you."

"I'll be missing you guys too, I'll try and get through this training as fast as possible."

"Well you ARE the best flyer in ALL of Equestria!" Pinkie cheered, jumping around.

Rainbow glanced at the ground again. _Yeah… but she has no idea what's ahead of me._

Rainbow shook her head of the negative thoughts that were plaguing her before speaking again. "I better get going… Oh! Before I forget."

Rainbow turned to Twilight. "Good luck at that race you're hosting with the other princesses, I wish I could be there."

Twilight smiled. "Thanks Rainbow, I'll be sure to give you detailed report on it so you don't miss anything."

Rainbow grinned. "Thanks, Twilight."

All of Rainbow's friends gathered around giving her one last hug before she took to the skies.

Pinkie chased after a little, calling out like she did before when she left for the Wonderbolts academy about not forgetting to write.

Apple Jack looked to Twilight who was already reading the scroll Rainbow had given her.

"You sure you can't tell us anything?"

Twilight closed the scroll nodding.

"Rainbow's right, I can't."

"But can't we know? We're part of your council after all." Rarity added.

Twilight shook her head. "This is something that the Princesses don't even talk about publicly, and it's okay that nopony knows."

"That heavy?" Apple Jack asked.

"Yes."

_More heavy than any of us could ever imagine._

_Be safe Rainbow._


	3. Chapter 2: Flysenhower

Spitfire looked at the pony before her. A young mare with a teal green coat, a blonde mane and yellow eyes to match. Though she was standing at attention, Spitfire could see the slight confusion in her eyes.

"You've worked hard to prove yourself Lightning Dust, come a long way since you first arrived at the academy." Spitfire said, breaking the silence between them.

Lightning remained silent. She didn't really have anything to say to Spitfire. She was too confused to.

"Worked your way out of the brig and through intense squad training, the Jolly Wrenches should be good for you."

Lightning decided to speak. "Why me?"

Spitfire cocked an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"

Lightning narrowed her eyes a little, looking down. "Ma'am… I know it's great that you've given me a second chance and all… but this seems a bit… I don't… bit more than I deserve, especially after how I acted the first time I was given something big."

Spitfire's look softened a little. "We both messed up during that time Lightning Dust, and just so you know… I'm aware that the others have not been kind to you since then, reason I think this would be good for you. A clean slate for a little bit, as it were.

Lightning nodded. "Right."

Spitfire nodded back as she looked to the other end of the run way to see Soarin' trotting over with a thin brown mare beside him.

"Have you filled her in on everything?" Spitfire asked.

"Yes, Thorn is all ready to go." Soarin' replied, nodding to the mare beside him.

Thorn gave a salute. "Private Thorn reporting for dusty-I mean duty."

Spitfire couldn't help but chuckle a little. "I think someone is either nervous or excited."

"Both!"

"Understandable. Thorn, this is Lightning Dust, she is one of the ponies you will be traveling with to Flysenhower Island."

Thorn looked to Lightning, a bit of recognition in her eyes.

"Oh… Nice to meet you."

Lightning just gave a silent nod. _Anyone at the academy knows of me… I just wish it wasn't in that way… _

"Who's the other pony coming with us?" Lightning asked.

"She'll be flying in any moment now." Spitfire answered, looking to the skies.

Right on cue, Rainbow Dash came soaring through the sky and onto the runway to greet them. She gave her salute to Spitfire.

"Rainbow Dash reporting for duty."

Spitfire saluted back. Before she could say anything they all heard a squeal. They looked to the source to see it was Thorn.

"Ohmygoshohmygosh! Is she the other pony?!" She asked, bouncing a little.

Spitfire gave an irritated look. "If I say yes will you please stop bouncing like a filly?"

Thorn nodded, planting her feet on the ground. "Sorry, ma'am, just this is Rainbow Dash we're talking about, she's one of the best flyers in Equestria."

Rainbow gave a shy smile. "Ah shucks."

"Hey, Dash."

Rainbow looked over to Lightning, complete surprise in her eyes. "Lightning Dust? What are you doing here?"

"Same reason you're here, I'm going to Flysenhower Island."

Rainbow's jaw dropped a little. _HER? Has Spitfire lost her mind?! _

Lighting got an awkward look on her face. "I'm just as confused as you are."

Spitfire cleared her throat. "Attention!"

The three mares stood in attention as Spitfire paced back and forth in front of them.

"Thank you all for accepting the offer that was given by the Jolly Wrenches. It's appreciated and will hopefully be helpful to us in the Wonderbolts."

The three mares nodded.

"As Lightning Dust mentioned, you will be flying to Flysenhower Island for training. Many of you probably have heard about the Jolly Wrenches through many of the stories that Wonderbolts have told to their comrades and trainees."

_Oh yes… _Rainbow thought. She and her fellow companions had heard the horror stories of "The Terrifying Jolly Wrenches." About how unfitting their name was, how they could swallow a pony whole if they were in the mood, how they were never kind to anyone outside their squadron. According to these stories, they were anything but jolly.

"I want to assure you that even though they aren't exactly the Wonderbolts best friend, they are good trainers, you will learn a lot from them. Things I don't even know you will learn from them."

Spitfire stopped pacing and stood facing the three mares.

"Reason I have no need to speak to you longer, it's time you report to Flysenhower. It's in the eastern part of Equestria, get their as fast you can."

"Yes ma'am!" the mares shouted.

Spitfire grinned. "Good, and a few warnings, it's going to be a rough landing… and Flysenhower has a tendency to move. You'll see it when you get there, I don't know how to explain it, just get going."

Without any question, the three mares took the skies and headed for the east. Spitfire looked to Soarin' giving a bit of a worried look.

"They'll be fine, Spitfire." Soarin' said with a reassuring smile.

"I know… I just wish I knew how to explain what they're getting themselves into."

* * *

It was a long flight to Flysenhower. Sure, they knew the way thanks to Soarin' giving Thorn the instructions on how to get there… it was just hard to keep themselves entertained.

"So, Thorn, how long have you been in the Wonderbolts Academy?" Rainbow asked.

"About year a now, I think." Thorn answered. "Still working my way up, though honestly I'm just thinking of doing the Wonderbolts as a part time thing and not just my only source of making income."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I'm really into gardening, have a nice little green house back where I live."

"Where do you live?"

Thorn gave a little bit of a sheepish look. "You're not gonna believe me if I told you."

"Oh come on, try me."

"Alright… I'm from Canterlot."

"Really?"

"Yep, mother was a Canterlot Unicorn who fell in love with Pegasus, and that's the gist of it."

"Doesn't seem that hard to believe… Then again, Canterlot mainly has Unicorns, and I don't know a lot of them actually practicing gardening… Also, you don't come off as a snob like the other ponies I've seen from there."

"That's why I said you wouldn't believe me, I'm too nice."

"Got ya…"

Rainbow looked to Lightning Dust. She had been silent for the most part. She only answered the occasional yes and no questions, but she was just keeping to herself. Rainbow was surprised she wasn't challenging her and Thorn to race to Flysenhower. Which… seemed very unlike her.

"Hey, Lightning Dust."

Lightning looked over to her. "Yeah?"

"What have you been up to since I last saw you?" _No harm in talking to her, she doesn't seem like the same pony from before._

"Just training."

"Really?"

"Yep."

"Anything else?"

"Nope."

"What kind of training?"

Lightning gave a bit of an irritated look. "I really rather not speak of it, Dash."

Now Rainbow was really confused. _Since when does Lightning Dust not want to talk about something? She's usually comfortable talking about anything._

"Okay."

The three flew on in silence before Thorn broke it with a loud yell.

"Incoming!"

The three mares broke their position, dodging a lightning bolt.

"What hay?! Thorn, you sure you lead us in the right direction?!" Rainbow asked, looking to the startled Pegasus.

"Pretty sure, from what Spitfire told me, we should be close. I just saw the rock with the Jolly Wrench insignia that serves as the checkpoint. Flysenhower is close."

"Then let's hurry over before we get zapped."

Thorn nodded and kept leading the way. Not too long after it begun to rain. Hard. It was coming down in sheets, drenching them.

"Do they have no weather ponies? I would think they keep the skies clear near their base camp." Rainbow said, looking around. "In fact, I can't see said base camp."

"Just keep following me, I promise I'll get us there."

"Thorn, you better, or I'm gonna mock ya for having a poor sense of direction for the rest of our training days together."

Thorn grinned. "Challenge accepted. _No one questions my sense of direction! _

Thorn lead on, helping them dodge more lightning bolts. Finally, they saw it. Flysenhower Island… and their jaws dropped when they realized something. It was MOVING.

"I guess that's what Spitfire meant by 'it has a tendency to move.'" Lightning said after a moment.

"Well, come on, let's get down there."

Thorn dove down with her partners following after. Coming in they could see other creatures practicing in the sky. They could see griffons, hippogriffs, and the occasional Pegasus doing air drills. They even saw dragons in the sky as well, firing off commands to their squadrons.

"I can see why some ponies would say they're terrifying." Rainbow commented. _Dragons, full grown ones, can scare any pony._

They came down to the runway making a bit of rough landing. There, they saw a griffon waiting at a post. He was gray and black, and had on a red helmet with a blue visor. He smirked as the ponies approached him.

"You must be the new trainees, enjoying the weather?" he asked.

Rainbow felt her left eye twitch. "This is a thunderstorm for flying out loud! How can we possibly enjoy this? How do you guys even train in this? Do you even HAVE weather control?"

The griffon broke down laughing. "Oh you Wonderbolts, such wimps you are." He composed himself a little. "We don't have any weather control to speak of, what you see is what you get, we let nature do it for us."

The three mares were just dumbstruck.

No weather control…? They just… let the clouds move on their own…?

"Okay, I'm just gonna say this now, you guys are nuts." Rainbow said, breaking the silence.

"We take pride in it." The griffon answered with a grin. "Now, that aside, my name is Echo, I'll be helping with getting you three lovely mares settled into your barracks. You'll have a professional orientation tomorrow and will be given your uniforms that you will wear at all times during training, for now… I figure you three are exhausted from the flight over here and could use some rest."

_You think? _Rainbow thought, cocking an eyebrow at him.

"Now, follow me, let's get you settled."

The three mares followed him down the runway to the big building ahead. They watched the skies again, seeing fellow Jolly Wrenches coping with the tough weather… even using it as a means of training.

The three gulped as they headed inside.

_What have we gotten ourselves into?_


	4. Chapter 3: A Different Type of Flight

The three mares were settled in quickly to their barracks down below. It had been decided the three would be rooming together during their stay at Flysenhower.

Their barrack was comfortable. It had all they needed. Beds, lockers, all the basic needs.

"Well... least it's not metal beds." Thorn said lying out on hers. "Could be so much worse."

Rainbow nodded in agreement.

"I'm just curious about the training they're gonna put us through." Rainbow said, staring up at the ceiling. _Dragons... They have DRAGONS as training instructors... I'm not sure what to expect._

She looked over to Lightning to see she was well on her way to sleep. _Guess she's not worried about anything… well, glad to see that trait didn't leave her._

"I'm not sure I want to think about it… I mean, what if one of their training exercises involves the dragons chasing after us breathing fire?" Thorn asked, a bit of panic in her voice.

"I don't think they're THAT crazy, we saw a bit of what they were doing when we flew in, I guess one of their exercises involves having to deal with extreme weather conditions, which we have done at the academy."

"Yeah, but ours was CONTROLLED, these guys just have to roll with the punches as it were."

"Then we'll just have to adapt as well… and I'm sure they just wouldn't let any of their trainees get hurt." _I think._

"I don't know, these are the Terrifying Wrenches we're talking about… Who the heck named them the JOLLY Wrenches anyway?"

"I don't know, go back in time and ask the founder."

"... Who am I? Doc Brown?"

Rainbow couldn't help but laugh. "Too many movies Thorn?"

"... Maybe."

"Come on guys! Let's move it!"

Thorn and Rainbow's heads turned to their door, hearing commotion going on outside. Rainbow went over to the door taking a peek to see what was going on.

She could see a whole herd of ponies and griffons rushing down the hallway.

"We don't wanna miss it!" a blue Pegasus called out.

_Miss what? _Rainbow thought.

She watched as the herd cleared the hallway before following after them.

"Hey where ya going?" Thorn asked, following behind her.

"I wanna see what's got them all fired up." Rainbow answered.

They followed close behind the herd till they arrived at a room with a giant monitor. There they saw ponies, griffons, hippogriffs, and even dragons gathered around the monitor, sitting with some snacks and drinks.

"They watching a movie?" Thorn asked.

Rainbow shrugged as she made her way over. Some of the other creatures in the room eyed her as she came over to the group. She gulped a little as she came closer.

"Um… Hi." She said, almost a little too quiet. She couldn't help but feel intimidated by some of the eyes that were fixed on her, especially from the dragons.

"Well if it isn't Rainbow Dash!"

Rainbow looked over to see Echo grinning and waving his claw at her. He had another griffon next to him that almost looked exactly like him, save a different helmet and long feathers around his cheeks.

"Be nice to her now, she's a hero for Equestria and she was also a Wonderbolt cadet that proved Spitfire wrong."

The mood of the room changed as Rainbow was greeted by many of the ponies and griffons in the room. The dragons even gave a warm greeting.

"Thanks for the welcome… and be nice to my friend Thorn too, she's working just as hard."

Thorn gave a sheepish look as the others greeted her.

"Come, sit, we're just gonna tune into the big race." Echo said inviting the mares to sit with him and his companion.

The mares came over and made themselves comfortable. The blue Pegasus Rainbow had seen earlier came over offering her and Thorn cider.

"Want some? Freshly brewed."

Rainbow's face lit up at the sight of the drink. "YES!"

Thorn nodded as the Pegasus handed over the drinks, chuckling a little. "Nice to meet both of you, I'm Jet Stream." He said, sitting by them, looking towards the screen.

The mares nodded as they looked towards the screen as well.

"The big race huh?" Rainbow asked.

"Yep, the Wings Around Equestria Rally, we always make an effort to watch it every year."

Rainbow's eyes widened a little as she recognized the name. "Wait…"

Before she could say anything, up on the monitor came the Princesses, including Twilight.

_That was the race Twilight mentioned… _Rainbow thought, keeping silent as she watched.

Celestia came forward as faced the crowd of excited ponies before her.

"Welcome all to the annual Wings Around Equestria Rally."

The crowd cheer and as did the Wrenches as Celestia carried on with her opening speech.

"We have many racers come here from all parts of Equestria, many who have trained hard to make their way here, stepping onto this runway is a step into history."

Luna came forward, joining her sister. "And for the first time in history, we have an Earth Pony in the race this year."

Rainbow's eyes went wide. _AN EARTH PONY?!_

The image on the monitor changed to show a young brown clydesdale stallion with a rusty orange mane and blue eyes… and metal wings on his back.

"Is… Is he crazy?" Rainbow asked, completely shocked at what she was seeing.

"Maybe, but that takes a lot of guts… especially for him." Echo said, sipping his water. "Ponies like him aren't exactly… em… respected."

"What do you mean?"

The griffon beside Echo pointed at the stallion's wings. "Those wings on his back are artificial as you might have guessed, he would be what others call a fake Pegasus."

"Well… it's kind of true, considering he isn't one."

The griffon scowled a little. "Well, the reason he is one is most likely because of a job he has, but he wants to be like those other Pegasi we see there."

"What kind of job would require an Earth Pony to have wings like those? I've never even heard of such a thing."

The griffon rolled his eyes. "Boy are you sheltered."

Echo elbowed him. "Let it go Bravo, not everypony knows what goes on in our part of Equestria."

Rainbow shook her head, looking to the screen again at the Earth Pony. He had a determined look in his eyes… Something she had seen in herself and her friends.

_An Earth Pony who flies… Talk about defying what you are._

* * *

"For real?" Lightning asked the next morning while she Rainbow and Thorn were waiting at roll call on the run way.

"Yeah! He had artificial wings and everything, guess he really wanted to fly." Thorn said.

"No kidding… wonder how they work."

"That's what I was wondering too." Rainbow chimed in.

"Attention!"

The three mares stood in attention as Echo came forward with Bravo at his side.

"I know last night was exciting girls, but right now let's focus on training." Echo said in his official tone. "Today you begin your training, and fortunately nature has smiled upon you today, we have nice weather."

The three mares mentally sighed with relief. They really didn't want to fly through another thunderstorm like yesterday.

"But, don't think we'll be going easy on you, we're going to be pushing you till your wings are about ready to fall off."

Bravo stepped forward. "I can see Jet Stream already delivered your uniforms to you, looking sharp."

The mares had been surprised too when he had come to their room earlier this morning. It was different than what they were used at the Wonderbolts Academy. Instead of a vest that only went up to the neck and goggles, they had a full uniform, complete with Hoof Guards and a harness that had the Jolly Wrench crest on the front.

"But you're missing a piece, which is fine since we have to show you how to use them."

Echo went over to crate pulling out metallic yellow and black feathers. "These, are Air Glider Feathers. For those of you who were watching the Wings Around Equestria last night, you may have seen feathers similar to these on some of the racers. These types of feathers are special to our part of Equestria, they allow us to catch more speed and save on energy with just gliding instead of having to flap more."

Rainbow looked at Echo and Bravo carefully. _I don't see any of those feathers on them… _She noted but didn't dare speak since she was in attention.

"Of course, these feathers are meant for Pegasi only, griffons like me and Bravo don't need them."

"Now, enough chatting Echo, let's get them their feathers and take to the skies, nothing hard today ladies, just some laps around the island so you can get acquainted with your feathers."

The mares held still has the griffons put the feathers into their wings. It didn't hurt too much, but there a few pinches here and there as the clips in the feathers clipped onto their wings.

"Alright, to the sky!"

The griffons took off with the mares following close behind.

"Show us what you got, ladies."

Rainbow smirked. _Gladly. She thought._

She gave her wings a hard flap as she began to speed up, her rainbow streak starting to form. _A Sonic Rainboom should impress-_

She felt a wing stop her in her tracks. It was Echo's.

"Whoa whoa, hold it. What do you think you're doing?" Echo asked, giving a slightly unimpressed look.

"Showing you what I got, that's what you asked."

Echo shook his head. "I guess we forgot to mention no magic flying, only natural flying."

Rainbow gave a confused look. "What's the difference?"

"It means no streaks behind you and more importantly, no Sonic Rainbooms." Bravo chimed in.

"You-"

"Yes, we know about your little talent, Spitfire told us everything we needed to know about you guys, and our orders are to teach you how to fly like us."

"And our way, is natural flight, not magic flight, understood?"

Rainbow was just speechless. She looked to her fellow Pegasi who were just as shocked.

_How do they expect to train us then if we're not pushing our limits? _Rainbow thought, giving the two griffons a glare.

Echo just stared right back at her. "Don't make this any harder than it has to be, it's our rules here now."

"What about the rest of your Pegasi? Do they use magic flight?"

"Nope, they fly like us, and they went through this same training as well."

"But magic let's us fly at incredible speeds, how could not using magic be pushing our limits?"

Bravo growled. "This is another version, we're trained for emergencies where magic can't be used… very much like when Tirek struck. Survival without magic is useful."

"Right, and how do you expect to train ponies like us who naturally use it without meaning to? That's something you can't just take away."

Echo narrowed his eyes. "We have our ways…" He looked to Bravo. "Guess she'll be going in sooner, won't she?"

"Oh yes, we'll see what we can do here before we decide." Bravo looked to Rainbow. "For now… Suck it up and fly, got it?"

Rainbow gave a curt nod and followed behind the griffons as they began to move again.

_Be going in what sooner? _She thought as she looked at the griffons.

Thorn flew in a little closer to the blue pegasus lowering her voice. "Think they got something to block our magic?"

"Maybe…" She whispered back.

The training continued as Echo and Bravo lead them around the moving island, occasionally stopping them when their streaks started to appear.

"Been meaning to ask, why does the island move?" Lightning asked, looking down at it.

"Our little island is attached to a giant Sea Turtle who moves it." Echo answered with a grin.

"His name is Flysenhower."

"... Really?"

"Yep, he let us move onto his little island, he likes us and we like him. We give him protection and he gives us a nice little home."

"I see."

Echo nodded, slowing Lightning down again since her flight streak was starting to appear. She let him do so which surprised Rainbow when she saw no look of resistance in Lightning's eyes.

_I expected her to push back… _

After a few more laps, the training ended. Echo and Bravo had kept their promise of their wings feeling ready to fall off. It was mainly from stopping so much in mid flight that had caused them to become sore. Plus, the Air Glider Feathers were a little irritating.

"How are these supposed to help again? All they did for me was scratch my wings with their clips." Thorn grumbled, picking at them.

"You were flapping too hard, reason they scratched you, they're called Air GLIDER feathers for a reason." Echo said, giving an amused look.

Thorn rolled her eyes.

"You girls go get something to eat, we need to have a word with one of our chief dragons, report back here on the runway at 3 for your next training exercise."

The mares saluted. "Yes sir."

Echo nodded flying off with Bravo behind him.

Rainbow looked to her team mates. "So… anyone else sick of them?"

Thorn raised her hoof. "Me."

Lightning shook her head. "They're just trying to teach us their way, Rainbow, let it go."

She left before Rainbow could say anything to her.

"... Okay, who is she, and what has she done with Lightning Dust?"

Thorn gave a confused look. "I'm pretty sure that's Lightning Dust, Dash."

"But she's acting so differently. The one I knew would've been trying to do things her way, not following orders exactly."

Thorn shrugged. "Ponies can change, I think it's good she's having an okay attitude about it, we need someone in the group who's actually listening."

"We are listening, we're just struggling."

"I think I forgot to add she isn't complaining. I don't think Echo and Bravo are going to treat us well if we keep whining… even though I don't find their training methods that great. I am already sick of them… but we have orders to learn their techniques… I hate to quote them… but… suck it up, and fly."

Rainbow sighed. "... Yeah… I guess you're right."

Thorn nodded. "Come on, let's go get some food."

"Yeah, I'm starving."

Thorn grinned. "Last one to the mess hall owes the other cider."

Rainbow grinned back. "You're on!"


	5. Chapter 4: Decisions Made

For quite a few days it was just a routine. Report for three different types of training every day, then wind down for the night by watching the Wings Around Equestria, then go to bed.

Progress was being made in training. Lightning was catching on quick to everyone's surprise. She was already starting to understand the ins and outs of natural flight. Thorn was catching on as well, just not as fast as Lightning. Rainbow was struggling the most out of the three.

She just couldn't seem to wrap her head around natural flight. She loved being able to go at the speeds she usually did and now she couldn't. Echo and Bravo were being as patient as possible, but everyone could see they were starting to get irritated with her.

Thorn and Lightning were trying to help as well by showing her techniques outside of training but nothing seemed to be working.

"I just don't know if I'll be able to get this natural flight thing right guys… I'm more set to be a Wonderbolt, not a Jolly Wrench." Rainbow said, one afternoon as they were resting in their barrack.

"You're not giving up are you?" Thorn asked.

The mare gave her a look. "No way in hay am I gonna do that! I'd never live it down! And I am NOT giving up!" _If something like Tirek happened again… I wouldn't be able to protect my friends…_ The mere thought of Twilight having to take on something alone ever again when they could've helped, angered her. If she gave up, then she would be useless when a crisis happened, and she would never let that happen if she could.

"Well… Then we're just gonna have to keep trying. Maybe we can get up early tomorrow… Before wake up call." Thorn looked around quickly to be sure no one was listening. "You need to be able to slow down… Like resist the urge."

Rainbow groaned laying her head down. "Thorn, you have no idea how hard it is… My cutie mark practically stands for speed."

"Then don't listen to your mark." She said bluntly.

"...Are...You..NUTS!?"

"I'm being blunt."

"It's been working for me."

Rainbow looked over to Lightning who hadn't said one word during the whole conversation.

"What?" Rainbow asked.

"I said, it's been working for me, I've resisted my urges, and my mark stands for the same thing, adapting is important, Dash."

Rainbow glared at her. "You're one to talk, you always did things your own way back at the Academy."

Lightning glared back. "I messed up, I know that, but I learned my lesson and learned the importance of working as a team and following orders, I think you're just too used to being a leader instead of a follower."

"So what if I am?" She growled a little. "Y'know maybe if I was leader back then that incident wouldn't have happened… Maybe they wouldn't be so freaking hard on us!"

Lightning stood up. "Oh, you're blaming me now for you not being able to fly the way the Wrenches do? The incident and this have nothing linked to why they're being hard on us!"

Rainbow stood up as well. "Well if you like the Wrenches so much maybe you should just quit the Wonderbolts for good!"

Thorn gulped looking between the two. _This is gonna get real ugly real fast…_

Lightning was trying really hard not to snap at her… but that hurt. It hurt to the point she had nothing to say in return and just backed down, sitting on her bed. _Been in this fight before… not doing it again._

Rainbow shook her head sitting on her own bed. _Maybe that was too harsh…_

"Rainbow... That was awful… You think you have the right to tell her that?" Thorn asked quietly, giving the other mare a glare.

"... No." Rainbow muttered.

"Then stop acting like your head 'Bolt and fly right… Do you act like this back home?"

Rainbow thought for a moment. "Sometimes… I let things get to my head a lot… but whenever Twilight has plans… I follow them since I know what she's doing."

Thorn's gaze softened a little. "Then trust us the way you trust her...Trust Echo and Bravo… Because we're supposed to be a team here... I know we're not like a fancy council of six like you are back home, but I really want to like you both... But I don't like bullies either… or egomaniacs."

Rainbow smiled a little. "I don't either… sorry for snapping… I guess all the stress just got me…" she looked over to Lightning. "I'm sorry to you too… Can you forgive me?"

Lightning gave a bit of a smile. "Yeah… I understand your pain if that makes you feel better."

"Thanks Lightning…" Rainbow said before giving a sheepish look. "Feels like I'm flying in circles sometimes… Speeding is what I'm used to.."

"We all are, we just had to learn to slow down… and if we can learn, so can you."

"Right." Rainbow nodded a little.

"We'll keep trying to show ya… And let's try not to irritate Echo and Bravo... I'm a little afraid to see what those two will do if they lose their patience." Thorn cringed at the thought. The griffons could be a little intimidating.

"I've seen what happens when a griffon gets mad, I don't want to see Echo and Bravo doing the same…"

"Then let's just agree on being on our best behavior around them during training hours." Lightning said giving a bit of a grim look. "I hear the worst they can do is give the Wrench's punishment… which for ponies, you disrespect a drill instructor you get the end of your tail burned off by the dragons."

Thorn and Rainbow shifted a little uncomfortably at the thought. "Oh goodness… They're allowed to do that!?" Thorn whisper/yelled getting a scared look. "B-but I like my tail!"

"It'll grow back, is all they'll tell you, it's the only thing they can do without seriously wounding somepony."

Rainbow shuddered. "In that case I'm counting my lucky stars they're not allowed to do worse than burning our tails."

"Yep… anyways, how about we just prep for our next training session?"

They nodded. "Sounds good."

* * *

"You want to send them to the Metal Birds already?"

Echo nodded. "It's mainly because of Rainbow Dash sir… she needs to be in environment that can prevent her from using her magic… as bad as that sounds… but she needs the extra push, we just need your permission, Commander Stone Flame."

Stone Flame looked down at Echo with concern. "Is it really that bad?"

"Unfortunately yes… and honestly, I'm not surprised… it's what she's used to being around, especially considering whose council she is part of."

"True…"

"I just want to know your thoughts… you guard the portal after all."

Stone Flame shifted a little, stretching his wings.

"Every pony is different… I wish I could understand their struggles, but being a dragon I don't know what it is like to rely on magic to fly. Sending her to the Metal Birds will probably be rough for her since it is a land without magic… but with her two companions she should be fine, they'll just need to exercise caution."

"So… we have permission?"

Stone Flame nodded. "Yes, bring them here when it is time."

Echo saluted. "Yes sir."

Stone Flame watched as Echo flew off to find the ponies. He smiled a little, looking towards the door he was currently guarding.

_Maybe the Metal Birds can teach Rainbow Dash what the Wrenches are unable to teach._


	6. Chapter 5: The Three Mares of Trouble

It was another day of drills. This time through thunderstorm weather which wasn't going so well for the mares. It was proving to be hard to dodge lightning bolts and still go at the speeds they were going.

"Put your backs into it!" Echo barked.

"We're trying!" Rainbow snapped back, dodging another bolt. _THIS IS INSANE._

Lightning flew over to Rainbow. "You doing okay?"

"No, Lightning, I've almost gotten hit twice now, help me!"

"I'll try, just stay close, try going into dive then glide, it'll get you up to speed."

Rainbow nodded as she followed Lightning Dust downward into a glide. It was actually started to work for Rainbow. She could feel herself getting up to the speeds she was used to traveling at, save it was a little wobbly. The Glider Feathers were still a bit of a bother.

"There ya go."

Rainbow nodded. She looked around for Thorn… and found the mare had gotten herself stuck in a cloud.

"... Thorn… What are you doing?"

Thorn gave a bit of a kicked puppy look. "I got stuck in a cloud… HELP!"

Lightning and Rainbow rushed over to her as fast as they could and started to help pull her out. She was stuck pretty good too.

"Pull harder!" Lightning shouted.

"I'm trying!"

The two mares pulled as hard as they could till finally she came loose and sent all three of them for a crash landing on the run way…. on top of Bravo.

"OOPH!"

Echo winced. "Ouch."

The three mares were all dazed and weren't really moving much… and were talking nonsense.

"Pretty stars…" Thorn said with dizzy eyes.

"Twilight… What have I told you about using magic to fix everything?"

"I didn't do it…"

Bravo had a very unimpressed look on his face. "I know you're all dazed… But would you kindly get your rears off me!"

Echo helped the mares off him as they snapped out of their daze.

"Talk about rough landing." Lightning said, rubbing her head.

Rainbow was rubbing her head as well… and trying to hide a smile. She couldn't help it. _Pay back on the griffon. _She thought.

"Well, could've been worse, and you three are improving, which means it time for one the bigger training exercises… or rather, a test." Echo said.

"A written test or physical test? If it's a written test can we wait a few minutes? My ears are still ringing." Thorn mumbled, shaking her head.

Echo chuckled. "It's not a written test, follow me."

Echo took lead with Bravo right next to him. They lead the three mares down to another lower level the island. There they saw a grey dragon with green eyes waiting by a door.

"Ladies, this is Stone Flame, he's the Gate Keeper of the Metal Birds World."

The mares gave a salute to the dragon as he gave a salute in return.

"Greetings." he said.

"So, what's our test?" Lightning asked.

Bravo stepped over to Stone Flame, gesturing to the door.

"One of the biggest things that is emphasized here on Flysenhower is knowing how to find your way around, how to navigate new terrain. Your test is to enter the world on the other side of this door, learn how to navigate it, and find your way home."

The three mares looked at each other a little nervously.

"It's… safe right?" Thorn asked.

Echo gave an unsure look. "I wouldn't say completely safe, however, every trainee has gone through this test and has made it back, this world you are entering is very different, it's a world without magic."

The mares couldn't help but gasp.

"A… A world… without… without magic?" Rainbow said.

Bravo nodded. "This world has taught the Jolly Wrenches a lot, particularly the creatures who live there, the Metal Birds."

"The who?"

Stone Flame cleared his throat. "The Metal Birds, they're one of the many creatures that populate this other world, they're unlike anything here in Equestria. The way they fly is different from us, the fact they can do it is incredible."

"Wow…"

Stone Flame nodded, and looked back to Echo and Bravo. "You may give them the last of their instructions."

The griffons nodded looking to the mares.

"You know your objective, but also note to keep out of sight from the Metal Birds and whatever else is there as much as you can, and as for where the endpoint is… go back to where you began. That is all. Understood?"

"Yes sir!"

"Good, Stone Flame… Open the portal."

Stone Flame went over to the portal, dragging his claw over the crack in the middle causing it to open. He looked to the mares.

"Step on through, to the world of the Metal Birds."

The three mares nodded and made their way over to the door. They got in line, with Rainbow in the front. They could all feel the adrenaline pumping through them.

_Let's do this… _

Rainbow took a deep breath before stepping through the door, Lightning and Thorn following after her. The door closed as soon as the last one had entered.

"And so it begins." Stone Flame said, closing his eyes.

_Let's see how they do._

* * *

The mares were blinded by white light as they entered through the door. They couldn't see anything in front of them for what felt like forever. Finally the light started to dim as surroundings started to appear around them, and they could see each other.

When it was all clear they could see where they were. They were in a large open field, surrounded by mountains and trees. It was close to sunset from what they could tell from the lighting. The air had a fresh smell… but yet there was another smell they couldn't quite figure out. It was a bit of sour smell but they pushed that aside and focused on the task at hand.

"Okay… so we're in another world now… populated by creatures that are made of metal and we have to navigate it… sounds simple enough." Thorn said looking around. "If we had a map."

"We'll just have to improvise, and besides, part of navigating involves exploring, and we're in no rush, I don't recall them giving us a time limit." Lightning added.

Thorn nodded. "Right… Well, let's get to exploring."

The three started looking around the field, keeping to the ground for now since they were unsure if something would see them in the sky. There didn't appear to be anything but lots of grass… and wheat.

"Wonder if they do farm work around here…" Rainbow thought aloud.

She looked ahead and saw something milling around in the wheat.

_Huh…? What's that?_

Rainbow kept quiet as she got closer to it. She found no harm in checking out the local creatures. Though she wasn't sure exactly what she was seeing… but the noise it was making reminded her a lot of the cows back at home.

"The hay…?"

Whatever it was, it turned around and practically scared the daylights out of her.

"WAH!" She flew up a little in surprise, and had scared the creature as well as it rolled onto it's back making a loud mooing sound.

Thorn and Lightning came running over.

"Rainbow! What did you do?!" Lightning demanded, noticing the tipped over creature.

"I didn't do anything! It spooked me!" Rainbow said looking at it.

Thorn trotted over to it, poking it a little. "Seems you spooked it as well, its out cold."

"So much for keeping out of sight." Rainbow grumbled.

Then they heard a loud piercing noise. It sounded a bit like the creature Rainbow had just spooked… just angrier.

"... Did anyone else hear a bull?" Thorn asked.

Rainbow and Lightning nodded as they looked towards the source of the sound.

Out of the tall wheat stalks came another odd looking creature that they swore was ten times bigger than them. Their jaws dropped as they saw it come closer, making more angry sounds.

"Oh sweet Celestia, FLY AWAY!"

No one hesitated in following Thorn's command as they took to the skies, fleeing from the monster. They didn't dare look back, but they knew the thing was following them. They kept flying straight forward, disregarding the whole try not to be seen rule. They were more worried about their lives right now.

"Higher!"

They flew higher into the sky till they could no longer hear the rampaging monster.

They got into a static position and just looked around. It appeared they were on some kind of farmland from what they could tell.

"Well, that was one of the most terrifying moments of my life." Rainbow Dash panted. "Let's try to avoid scaring creatures like that one so we don't enrage whatever that monster was."

"Agreed… Let's keep flying before something else shows up." Lightning said looking around. "The fact they said Metal Birds means were probably not the only ones using the sky."

They all nodded in agreement and began flying forward again, taking in all the surroundings. They couldn't really see anything that would suggest there were other creatures, but obviously something was doing farming around here. They just weren't sure what.

"Anyone else getting nervous?" Rainbow asked.

Thorn and Lightning nodded.

"I don't know about you guys… but I feel some what vulnerable out here… like something doesn't feel right." Thorn said giving a worried look.

"Maybe we shouldn't be so close together, we're easily seen as a group. We don't have to go too far from each other, we just can't fly as a cluster." Lightning suggested.

"That sounds like a good idea, I don't want us getting caught by whatever the hay is around here, we can see each other easily as long as we're not too far."

They all agreed and picked positions. Thorn would lead up the front, Lightning would be in the middle, and Rainbow would be in the back to look for anything that might be following them. They kept a good distance with each other, but kept signalling each other by using the reflective metal on their Air Glider Feathers.

_Finally, another good use for these things. _Rainbow thought as she and her companions flew on. But she was still feeling uneasy. What Thorn had said about feeling vulnerable… she was feeling it too. _I know they said it's a world without magic… but something else feels like it's missing-_

VROOOM!

Her thoughts were cut short as she felt a big blast of wind throw her into a spin out. She saw over head something had flown above her. She wasn't sure what it was, but if she had to guess, it was probably a Metal Bird. She tried regaining her balance but then was knocked by another gust of wind caused by another Metal Bird.

She couldn't regain control, she was in a full spin out.

"GUYS-

WHAM!

She had run into something… hard. She fell to the ground feeling pain all over. Looking up, she saw she had run into what appeared to be a water tower. She was completely dazed though, and was having trouble getting back up on her hooves.

"Ow… my head…"

She tried gaining some balance by flapping her wings a little but felt a sharp pain in her left one. She winced as she looked at it. It was bruised.

_Perfect… just perfect…_

Unable to keep her balance she fell to the ground, holding her head a little.

"Help… somepony… any pony…"

"I think the noise came from over here."

Rainbow didn't recognize the voice, but she could hear something coming closer.

_Gotta hide._ She thought as she started dragging herself a little with her hooves, taking refuge under the water tower she had just crashed into. By the time she had gotten to it, she saw something approaching.

She wasn't exactly sure what it was… It was orange and white. It had a bit of dolphin shape to it's body (or least that's the best she could make of it.) and had what appeared to be wings sticking out of it's sides. But most importantly, it had eyes and a mouth.

It looked around the area, rolling along quietly on the wheels that were positioned under it.

"I swore I heard something…"

_And it sounds like a dude… _Rainbow thought. _I gotta get out of here. _

She tried standing again and was able to keep her balance this time, but her head wouldn't stop ringing and the pain in her wing was beginning to get worse.

"Ngh!"

The creature looked over to where she was hearing her.

"Who's there?" he asked.

Rainbow didn't answer and tried running away, only making it a little ways before falling over again. The creature came closer. Her eyes got wide and she kept doing her best to back away from it, eventually backing into a tree.

"S-Stay away!" she yelled.

The creature wasn't far from her, but he didn't come any closer. He looked at her carefully, perplexed.

"What… are you?" he asked.

"What's it to you?" she asked, snorting a little. She tried keeping a strong stance, but her wing was bothering her too much.

The creature noticed. "You're hurt."

"Yeah, I noticed."

The creature started to come closer again. Rainbow was out of room to run. She wasn't sure what to do. She looked up at him in fear.

He gave a gentle look, almost worrying actually.

"Let me help you." he said gently.

Surprise replaced the fear in Rainbow's eyes.

"What…?"

"I can help you… or least try, I'm not gonna hurt you, I promise."

Rainbow wasn't sure what to think. She got into a bit of a defensive stance again, snorting a little.

The creature came a little closer, lowering what Rainbow could guess was it's nose, and gave a small nuzzle on her head. Rainbow found herself relaxing a little. It reminded her of how she and her friends would comfort each other if they were upset about something or scared. She had seen Fluttershy do it countless times with her animals to calm them.

"Shhh…"

Rainbow felt herself calming down and nuzzling back.

"Let's get you some help, okay?" he asked.

"Okay…"

The creature pulled back a little, turning a bit so his wing was extended to her.

"Climb on." he said.

Rainbow did as told, curled up close to the creature's body. He felt really warm.

"Thanks…." she said.

He gave a nod and began rolling forward to wherever he was going.

"Got a name?" he asked.

"Rainbow Dash… You…?"

"Dusty, Dusty Crophopper."

_Dusty… Crophopper… where I have heard that…?_

Rainbow winced a little, her head still hurt from the crash.

_I'll worry about it later… my head hurts too much…_

"Nice to meet you Dusty…" She said, closing her eyes.

"Nice to meet you too."

Rainbow nodded as she slowly blacked out.


	7. Chapter 6: New Faces

Thorn waited in her resting area she had found up in one of the odd shaped mountains, shining one of her Air Glider Feathers against whatever sunlight was left. It had been a rough flight up, she was nearly knocked out of the skies by strong breezes that had been caused by strange creatures.

_And from what I could tell… I sure I'm not the only one who got hit by them._

A few minutes later, Lightning came into view, joining Thorn.

"Phew… glad to see you made it." Thorn said, sighing with relief.

"You and me both…" Lightning replied looking back. "I don't think Rainbow did though… I think I heard her screaming."

Thorn's eyes went wide. "Did you try finding her?"

"Tried, but got blown off course by whatever those things were in the sky, nearly ran into a building too. Couldn't find my way back to her, I have no idea where she landed."

"We should go looking for her."

"Yeah… but let's wait till it's light out. The sun is already setting and I don't want to know what comes out at night here… Let's find a place to rest and then we'll go looking for her."

Thorn nodded. "Alright then..."

Thorn got up and started leading the way. She couldn't help but look back to where they were, worry in her eyes.

_Please be okay… _

* * *

The world was hazy for Rainbow. She couldn't think straight and wasn't sure where she was. All she knew was she was aching all over.

"_Can you do anything?" _she heard a voice say… it sounded like the creature she had met. _What was his name…? Dusty?_

"_I'll do my best, but I've never seen anything like it…"_

_I don't recognize that voice…_

"_Thanks Dottie."_

It remained like this for awhile till Rainbow was finally able to come to. She opened her eyes slowly, finding herself in some kind of workshop. There were tools all over the place, and other various objects.

"Where…?"

She looked at herself, seeing she was out of her uniform, and now had what appeared to be metal braces on her wings.

She gasped, jumping up, only to fall back on her legs from the soreness.

"Ow…"

_Stupid water tower…_

"Easy now, you put yourself through the wringer."

Rainbow's head snapped towards the source of the voice to see some box shaped creature. It had blue coloring to it's body and had brown eyes. It sounded female.

"W-Who are you?" Rainbow asked, not sure whether to be scared or not.

"I'm Dottie, glad to finally see you awake, Dusty was worried you weren't going to wake up after he found you."

"Oh… um… nice to meet you…?"

Dottie chuckled a little. "If you worried about me hurting you don't, I'm the one who fixed you up… well tried to. I made those braces on your wings."

Rainbow looked at the braces again. They were well made and obviously made from scratch when she noticed some of the welding marks.

"So… you're a doctor?" Rainbow asked.

"For planes, I am, though not for whatever you are, I had to do a lot of guessing when it came to figuring out to help, but I was able to figure out a few things after doing a few x-rays."

Dottie rolled over to another part of the workshop, showing the pictures she had taken. Rainbow winced as she looked at them.

"How bad...?" she asked.

"Not completely, broken, but you managed to bruise your wing frame, hence the braces, that'll keep them from cracking and they should heal properly in about three weeks. From what I could tell, your structure is rather hollow so it would explain why you sustained as much damage as you did when you crashed, you're lucky one of your wings didn't break."

Rainbow gulped. "Anything else?"

"Just a few scratches and bruises, but you should be fine, you just need to rest for the time being."

_Perfect… _Rainbow thought, looking down.

"Hey, do you know where my uniform is? My trainers will have my head if I lost it."

Dottie gave a nod.

"Yeah, I have it hung up over there." she said, gesturing over to where the suit was currently hanging. "Which reminds me…"

"Dottie?"

Rainbow looked to the door to see Dusty looking in.

"Ah, there you are, just in time, our little visitor is awake now." Dottie smiled, gesturing over to Rainbow.

A relieved look appeared on Dusty's face as he looked over to her.

"Glad to see you're okay, how are you feeling?" he asked as he rolled over to her.

"Sore… Least my head isn't ringing anymore." Rainbow answered, giving a small smile.

"Good… Rainbow Dash, right?"

She nodded. "Thanks for helping me… it's appreciated."

Dusty gave a nod.

"Hey, Dusty."

Dusty looked over to Dottie. "Yeah?"

"Remember what we saw?"

"Oh! Right."

He turned back over to Rainbow.

"We wanted to wait till you woke up… Could you explain why you have the Jolly Wrenches insignia on that little uniform you were wearing?"

Rainbow's jaw dropped.

"You… You know about… The Wrenches?" she asked.

"Know them? I'm part of them." Dusty said, turning to his side. "See?"

Rainbow looked closely and saw the insignia near the tip of his nose. Her eyes went completely wide.

"How…?"

"I was trained by one of their squadron leaders, I was made an honorary Jolly Wrench not too long after."

"But… I… I never saw anything like you at Flysenhower, I only saw dragons, griffons, hippogriffs, ponies, not… whatever you are."

Dottie gave an odd look. "What is she talking about? I've never heard of any of those things."

Dusty returned the look. "Neither have I… and for the record, I'm a plane, a crop duster to be more correct."

_Never heard of that either… I'll roll with it. _Rainbow thought, shaking her head.

"Okay… and I'm what they call a pony, a Pegasus if you want specifics."

"Better than just calling you an it." Dottie said as she rolled around her workshop, putting things away. "But I've never heard of the Wrenches training anything like you."

"And neither have I." Dusty added.

"Well, we're all confused then, that's something we all know."

_I gotta get out of here… I need to find Thorn and Lightning Dust._

Rainbow attempted to get back up again, still wobbly on her legs. Dusty rolled over to her, giving his wing for her to lean on. "Easy now…"

"I-I'm fine… I need to go."

"Oh no." Dottie said in a stern tone. "You heard me earlier, you need to rest."

"But I need to get back to my team! They'll be worrying their heads off if they don't know I'm okay!"

"Do you want your wings broken?"

"... No...?"

"Then you're not going anywhere, you need to stay put."

"Ugh… fine…"

Rainbow sat back down sighing.

Dusty gave a sympathetic look. "Sorry, Rainbow Dash…"

"It's okay… and please, just call me Rainbow or Dash."

Dusty nodded. "Okay then."

Rainbow lowered her head a little, trying to process everything.

_So, I got in an accident… I'm with something called a plane and whatever his friend is… and I can't go anywhere because of medical reasons… great…_

Rainbow heard her stomach growl. _And I'm starving… what next?_

"Need something?" Dusty asked.

"Food..."

Dottie rolled over. "Well… what do ponies eat?"

"Hay, apples, corn, basically just fruits and vegetables."

Dottie grinned. "Well, least we have one of those."

Dottie left and returned shortly after with another creature beside her. It was green and orange was carrying some corn with it by using a wagon.

"Dash, this is Chug, Chug, Dash." Dottie said.

Chug rolled over to Rainbow. "Nice to meet you, brought you some food."

Dottie helped him get the corn out and bring it over to her. "Eat up."

"Thanks."

Rainbow took a bite… and then immediately began devouring it.

"Wow! This tastes amazing! It's even better than the stuff Apple Jack grows!"

Chug grinned. "Thank you, we work hard on our crops, we grow some of the best corn in the world."

Dottie rolled her eyes chuckling. "Don't get him started about corn, he'll go on for hours."

Rainbow grinned, laughing a little. "He'd get along with Apple Jack, she's the same with her apples."

"Need anything else?" Chug asked.

"Water would be nice."

"You got it."

Chug raced off, leaving Rainbow to eat the rest of the corn he had left for her.

"So, I'll just be staying here?" Rainbow asked.

"We don't see a problem with it, though I would prefer you find somewhere else to sleep besides the Fill N Fly. I have machines in here every day." Dottie said. "Don't know how they would react to seeing a pony."

"She can stay in my hangar then, I got room." Dusty said with a grin. "She doesn't take up a lot of space, so she could fit in just fine."

"Well, long as she's okay with it."

Rainbow gave a nod. "That sounds fine to me, I'll just need something to keep warm, and something soft to lie on."

"I think we got a pillow lying around here somewhere, and a blanket too, so, we got you covered."

Rainbow smiled. _They're all so nice…_

She quickly finished up her food and pretty much chugged the water that was brought to her. After that, Dusty brought her to his hangar by carrying her on his wing.

It was a cozy little place. Few posters were hung up on the walls with pictures of what she could assume were other planes. What caught her attention though were what appeared to be trophies and awards on one side of the room. In particular, a blue silver one that had Wings Around the Globe written on the front of it.

_That… That sounds like the Wings Around Equestria…_

"Do… Do you race?" she asked.

Dusty grinned. "Yep, the Wings Around the Globe Rally was my first race, been racing ever since then."

"Wow…"

Rainbow yawned a little. "Sorry… tired…"

"It's okay, got your pillow and blanket?"

Rainbow nodded showing the items that had been given to her by Dottie before Dusty brought her to the hangar.

"Good, just find a corner and just make yourself comfy."

Dusty helped her around the room till she settled for a nice spot by one of the windows. It was a little hard to get comfortable since her wings were stuck as they were thanks to the braces, but eventually she was able to relax a little, starting to feel sleep take over.

"Night, Dash." Dusty said quietly as he started to drift off.

"Night…" Rainbow replied, closing her eyes.

_I gotta get home… somehow._


	8. Chapter 7: Differences

Thorn and Lightning had spent the night in a small cave they had found up in the mountains. There were only there for a little bit before hunger woke them up. They were able to find food easily thanks to being so close to farmland.

"Well… least we won't go hungry." Lightning said as she ate away at her corn.

"Yeah… after this, we go look for Dash right?"

Lightning nodded.

"She's gotta be somewhere, there's no way she'd just crash and give up."

"But what if she's seriously hurt?"

"Then we better find her fast so we can help her… but let's just assume she's okay, better to not panic."

Thorn nodded. "Just need to be prepared for anything."

Once they were done, they stepped out looking around them. Still remembering the creature from the other day that chased them they didn't want to repeat it. Seeing it was all clear on the ground they took off into the air.

_Dash you better be okay…_ Thorn thought looking around for the mare. _I'll be really upset if you got hurt…_

She looked ahead of her and nearly slammed into what was coming at her. A smaller version of the creature that had knocked them off course. Or rather… a large flock of them.

"Oh… Crud."

They came on at alarming speed, carrying Thorn and Lightning away with them.

"I HATE THIS PLACE!" Lightning shouted.

"I KNOW YOU DO!" Thorn yelled over the sounds of the creatures. "Ugh, get back!" She tried speeding up.

Lightning tried doing the same, seeing if she could tap into her magic flight for just one moment. She found no harm just using a little in case of emergencies. This was one for her. But… she couldn't feel it at all.

_What the…?_

She kept frantically flapping her wings, but nothing came on. All that happened was she kept getting tangled up in more of the creatures.

"Oh come on!"

Thorn growled a little and bucked at one in mid air. "I got an idea! Treat it like we're finally getting even with Echo and Bravo! No mercy!"

Lightning nodded and started bucking at the creatures. Slowly the flock started to disperse, giving the mares some room.

"Finally…" Lightning said with a heavy sigh.

Thorn nodded catching her breath. "This is ridiculous." She said after a moment. "Giant crazy metal creatures!? No magic!? Are these guys just plain INSANE!?" She shrieked a little.

"I can't count how many times we've asked that question, but at this point this is just another example of their craziness… We need to get out of here as fast as we can as soon as we find Dash. I don't want to spend another minute here."

The brown mare gave a nod. "Right… And when we get back I am SO gonna give those two chuckle heads a piece of my mind… I can live with my tail getting burnt off, worth it I say!"

Lightning nodded. "Let's go find find our companion."

"Right… Let's hurry, who knows what she ran into..."

* * *

Rainbow had slept well through the night. She felt a lot better when she had woken up. Most of her soreness was starting to fade and she felt full of energy again.

She noticed upon awakening that Dusty wasn't around.

_Guess he had something to do._ She thought, getting up.

She leaned against the walls for support as she made her way outside the hangar. She watched from the doorway as she saw creatures of all sorts were milling about the little area, doing whatever they were they were doing.

She scanned the crowd for Dusty but didn't see him anywhere.

_Wonder where he went…_

A loud roaring sound filled the air. Rainbow looked to the skies, her jaw dropping as she saw Dusty up in the sky with another plane beside him.

"That's it Dusty! Keep it up!" The plane shouted.

Dusty gave a nod and flew on through the sky.

_He… He's flying… _Rainbow thought. _Metal Birds… that must be it. Planes are Metal Birds… Okay, that makes sense._

Rainbow kept out of the sight of the other creatures as she made her way around to watch Dusty. Seemed like he was doing exercises of some sort. It kind of reminded her of all the training drills back on Flysenhower.

But just how he was flying… was just unbelievable.

_He doesn't even flap his wings… he just… glides…_

After a bit, Dusty came in for a landing, the other plane right behind him.

"Nicely done Dusty." the plane said.

"Thanks, Skip, I'll see you later."

Dusty made his way over to hangar. He grinned when he saw Rainbow.

"Look who decided to finally wake up." he said with a chuckle.

Rainbow smirked a little. "I was in an accident, I have rights to sleep in."

"Heh, feeling any better?"

"Little bit, not perfect though… That was awesome what you were doing up there."

Dusty gave a sheepish look. "Thanks, just keeping in shape for races."

"Still awesome… you think you could show me sometime when my wings get better?" Rainbow asked, giving a bit of a puppy dog look.

… _Okay… that is adorable._

Dusty smiled. "Sure, I'll try. Hungry?"

"Yes!"

"Let's get you something to eat then, hop on."

Rainbow nodded, climbing onto his wing.

As he made his way for the Fill N Fly, Rainbow couldn't help but start asking questions.

"How were you flying?"

"Hm? What do you mean? You just saw me up there."

"Yeah, but I don't know how you got up there. You weren't even flapping your wings…. Uh… they are wings right?" She gave his wings a good tap.

"Yep, and I've never flapped them in my life."

"Then how do you get up in the air?"

"Get my engine going, my propeller spinning, build up speed, then lift off the ground and I'm off in the sky, that's all there is to it, along with a few other things like how I turn and how I go up. My engine is key to it all though. I wouldn't be able to fly without it."

"I've… never heard of anything like that. I mean, we have something like that back where I live but in order for it to work you have to pedal… Helicopter, that's what it was called."

Dusty gave an odd look. "Why would a helicopter need someone to pedal it for it to fly? Wouldn't it just be able to do it on its own?"

"No actually… I'm gonna assume helicopters are alive here like you are, where I come from, they aren't. Ponies use them for transport, hence why some pony would have to pedal for it to fly."

"I see… Do you have other machines? Like cars, trains, or forklifts like Dottie?"

"Forklifts and cars… I have no idea what those are. Trains however, I've ridden one more than I can count, it's one of the main ways to get around Equestria."

"And it's not alive either?"

Rainbow nodded her head. "A pony controls it by tending to the engine and such. Like I said, I've never seen anything like you back at home."

"Just like we've never seen anything like you… So, you said the name of your home is Equestria?"

"Yep, though actually I hail from a small town called Ponyville, I'm in charge of the weather."

Dusty cocked an eyebrow. "Really now?"

"Yeah! Along with the other Pegasi, we regulate when it's supposed to rain, when it's supposed to be sunny, when it's time for Spring to come, all that fun stuff."

"Huh… Interesting."

"Do you have anything like that?"

Dusty shook his head. "No, it's whatever nature gives us."

"... We really are different… Though honestly this is reminding me a lot of how it is on Flysenhower, they don't control the weather either. What you see is what you get is what my friends and I were told."

"That's just how it always is no matter where you are, least here in this place it is, and all over the world."

_I wonder if they got the idea from them… _Rainbow thought.

It went on like this for quite awhile as Dusty and Rainbow exchanged questions and answers. It was stopped for a minute when they got Rainbow her food, but then continued after. They were both intrigued about the other's world. How it worked, what it was like, what were the creatures like that lived there. Every last detail. Eventually it turned into telling stories about adventures and friends, along with many other things.

"And then, with Twilight bringing us all together, we activated the Elements of Harmony and stopped Nightmare Moon, turning her back into her former self, Princess Luna." Rainbow said, raising her front hooves in the air.

"That sounds incredible." Dusty said with a grin.

"It was."

They were back at the hangar now. It had gotten dark out. They had spent so much time talking they hadn't realized how fast time had gone by.

"Your world sounds amazing Dash… Maybe I could see it sometime."

Rainbow chuckled. "Maybe you could, but let's not count on it, I don't even know how to get back yet."

Dusty gave a concerned look. "If I heard you correctly earlier, you were sent here, along with two other ponies, for training?"

"Yep, my trainers said this is the biggest test for the Jolly Wrenches, learn to navigate the world of the Metal Birds, and find your way home. They gave us a hint, though honestly I don't think it was helpful."

"What was the hint?"

"Go back to where you started. That doesn't make any sense at all, if I went back to where I started I would most likely get mauled by whatever that monster what I saw earlier with Thorn and Lightning Dust."

"I'm thinking you're talking about the harvester that lives around here. It doesn't like when tip one of its tractors, goes on a rampage if you do."

"Yeah, learned that the hard way."

Rainbow looked outside one of the windows. "All I know is I need to find Thorn and Lightning Dust as soon as possible… I just don't know how. We have no way of contacting each other from far off distances."

"Do you think they could have gone far?"

"I don't know… I hope they didn't leave without me…" _They wouldn't… Right?_

Dusty gave a sympathetic look, giving her a gentle nuzzle.

"Tell you what, I'll help you look for them tomorrow. Sound good?"

Rainbow smiled a little, yawning. "Sounds good."

Dusty smiled back. "Awesome."

Rainbow made her way over to her little bed, curling up a bit.

"Hey Dusty?"

"Yeah?"

She gave another yawn before speaking again.

"You think you could tell me about the Wings Around the Globe Rally? Been meaning to ask about that."

Dusty gave another smile. "Sure, right now, or later?"

"Just talk to me till I fall asleep…"

"Very well… It all started in Lincoln, Nebraska... It was the qualifying rounds for the Wings Around the Globe Rally. I was the last contestant for the try outs. I was nervous, very nervous."

_Boy do I know that feeling. I was the same way during the Young Flyers Competition. _Rainbow thought as she listened on.

"What didn't help was everyone around me except my friends were looking down on me for being what I was. 'A crop duster? Are you kidding me? That farmer is going to race?' Is what I heard from many in the crowds and the announcer as well."

_They were mocking him for just being a crop duster?_

"Why were they mocking you for that? You're a plane so why the mocking?"

"Crop dusters are built to dust crops, that's the gist of it... But I didn't want to just dust crops. I wanted to be more than that... It was my dream to prove that maybe just maybe... I could do more than what I was built for... and I got to and I haven't regretted it since. Others were shocked when they saw me on the runway and when it was announced that for the first time there was a crop duster in the race."

_"And for the first time in history, we have an Earth Pony in the race this year."_

_That pony probably knows how he feels... _Rainbow thought, thinking of the Wings Around Equestria back at home.

"You wanted to live your dream... and were willing to do anything to have it..."

"Yeah, I didn't care if all they saw was a crop duster. I just wanted to race."

_Even if you weren't built for it... or born for it..._

Rainbow smiled a little. _I understand that pony now... Heh, Dusty and him would probably be good friends if they met. _

"Shall I continue on?"

"Yes, please."

Dusty continued to tell his story, as the mare eventually drifted off. Dreaming of the race, of home.


	9. Chapter 8: Caught in the Storm

It had been a long rough day for Lightning and Thorn… Actually, more like long days… and they were just about ready to scream their heads off.

"First we get carried away by some bird like thingies and then get knocked off course by bigger things in the sky, took us hours to find our way back to this farmland on hoof, and then accidentally set off a stampede of those cow like creatures and enrage that monster from earlier… so how long has it been?" Lightning asked with a twitch in her eye.

"Counting how many times the sun has set, I'm gonna say three days… though honestly I didn't keep track, I about lost count after we got chased by that monster again." Thorn replied. "All I know is we've gotten no where with finding Dash."

"Uggghhh… I get dibs on beating Bravo when we get out of here."

"Long as I get Echo I have no problems."

The two mares sat in silence before they heard thunder crack against the sky.

"Oh joy, a thunderstorm, looks like it's the cave again." Lightning said getting up.

"Actually, I think I got a different idea."

Lightning looked to see Thorn was looking off at something from the cliffside. Lightning trotted over to see she was looking at the small town they had seen earlier.

"... I'm guessing it has to deal with going to that town there… Thorn, that's positively one of the worst ideas I've ever heard. Did you forget what Echo and Bravo said? We have to stay out of sight."

"Well at this point I don't care, if they see us then fine, but I'm betting my bits they might be able to help us find Rainbow Dash some how…"

"What makes you say that?"

"Just a hunch… plus, during the times we were hiding from that monster out in the fields I have seen some kinder creatures that actually talk and socialize. I don't care what Echo and Bravo said, I just want to find our friend. Our best bet is to get some help."

"And how are you sure they aren't possibly going to do something to us when they see us? We aren't exactly a native creature as far as I'm concerned."

Thorn narrowed her eyes. "Can we at least try? I'm dead serious."

Lightning sighed a little. "Well… fine. But if we get pulled into some crazy thing that ends with us being captured I'm going to kill you."

"I'm willing to take that risk. Come on!"

* * *

Dusty looked outside his hangar. Dash was sitting near the mailbox outside looking at the sky.

As he had promised they had gone to look for her friends about three days ago and turned up with nothing. Dash was starting to worry she may have either gotten left behind or her friends might be in trouble. She wasn't sure what might have happened, but it was driving her crazy. It had become a habit of hers now to just sit by Dusty's mailbox and just search the skies.

Dusty rolled over to her, brushing her back gently with his wing.

"You should come inside, weather report said there was gonna be a major storm tonight."

"I heard the thunder… Dusty, I need to find them now."

"Dash, we'll find them, now is not the time, especially not right now."

Dash stomped her hoof standing up. "NO!"

Dusty rolled back a little, surprised at her outburst.

"They're around here, if they get caught in this storm they could get seriously hurt… I'm gonna find them… no, not just that, I'm gonna be sure they're safe."

"Dash what are you-"

"DUSTY!"

Dusty looked over to see Chug driving on over.

"Chug?"

"We need some help, with that storm coming in we're afraid some of the crops are gonna get damaged, we need assistance in harvesting corn."

"I'll go get my net ready and help as much as I can."

Chug nodded and sped off.

Dusty looked to Dash… only to find her gone, and in her place her two braces. His eyes widened in horror.

_Oh no…_

"DASH!"

It was too late. Rainbow was already up in the skies. She was a bit wobbly but was able to keep herself up in the air. She still had soreness in her wings but she wasn't letting that stop her. If anything, it was most likely adrenaline that was keeping her from stopping.

_I gotta help._

She flew higher until she was in the cloud layer.

_Alright… let's do this._

She got herself in position and began bucking at the clouds… only to go straight through them.

_W-What the?!_

She tried again and again but to no avail.

"COME ON! BREAK! LEAST ONE OF YOU BREAK!"

BOOM!

Rainbow gasped as a bolt of lightning flashed by her.

"Oh Celestia…"

"DASH!"

Rainbow looked to see Dusty was now in the sky as well with a net tied onto him by his wings that had some corn in it.

"You need to get out of the sky right now! It's too dangerous to be flying in this weather!" Dusty called out as he flew around her in circles.

"You're one to talk!"

"I can handle this! I'm not sure about you though, I don't want to guess what might happen if you even get scathed by lightning!"

"I'll be- Ack!"

Rainbow could start to feel the pain in her wings coming back.

_Oh come on… not now…_

"Dash please! I'm begging you! You need to get back to safety!"

"Dusty I need to-"

Her voice was drowned out as another bolt of lightning ripped through sky… dangerously close to Rainbow and Dusty.

Rainbow felt her heart skip a beat. She felt paralyzed.

_I… I can't do anything here… I'm useless… _

"That's it! I'm bringing you down whether you like it or not!"

Dusty flew up higher, catching Rainbow in his net. Rainbow didn't resist, she let herself get swept up in the net full of corn. After that Dusty made his way back to the runway and landed as gently as possible. Soon as he was down, Dottie undid the net around him and he made his way over to Rainbow.

"On my wing. NOW." he ordered.

Rainbow quickly made her way onto his wing. It began to rain as Dusty made his way back to his hangar. Soon as they were inside, Dusty had Rainbow sit in front of him.

"What were you thinking, Dash!?" he demanded. "You could've gotten yourself killed up there!"

"I… I…"

"You wanted help, I know, but you can't go risking your life like that, especially when you're still recovering. Your friends would be devastated if something happened to you!"

Rainbow looked at the ground, trying to hide tears.

"... I'm so sorry… I.. I didn't… I… I just wanted to help…"

"Dash…"

She couldn't hold back anymore as she broke down into a sob.

"I'M SORRY! DUSTY I'M SO SORRY!"

Dusty's look softened as he rolled close to her, nuzzling her gently.

"Shhh…."

"I'm sorry…"

"I know… Dash… I don't want you getting hurt… I'm not angry with you… I just… I just would've been devastated if something happened to you. You've had it so rough since you got here… I don't want you ending up like I did in the Wings Around the Globe after the storm... it's not worth it."

Rainbow sniffled a little, hiccuping a bit.

"Dusty…"

"Friends look out for each other Dash… we may not have known each other long… But with how much we've gotten to know about each other… and the time we've had… you're a friend to me."

Rainbow moved closer, nuzzling him.

"And you to me… I'm sorry…"

Thunder was heard again, spooking her a little. Rainbow couldn't believe she was finding herself trembling over thunder of all things. She was so used to controlling it so it didn't really bother her… but here… it just scared her.

She huddled closer to Dusty.

"Dusty?"

"Yeah?"

"It's… It's okay to be scared of something sometimes… right?"

"Well, if something nearly hurt you, it's completely normal, that was terrifying out there."

"But thunder has never bothered me before… I… I guess it's the fact that I can't control it that's scaring me. I felt so helpless up there."

Dusty frowned a little.

"You gonna be okay?"

"I don't know…"

Thunder boomed again, causing Rainbow to huddle close again.

_Poor girl… She must be traumatized…_

"Dash, grab your pillow and blanket and hop onto my wing, you can sleep next to me tonight."

Rainbow quickly did so, practically leaping to where her pillow and blanket were and onto Dusty's wing. She curled up under her blanket, huddled close to him. He was still warm from running his engine up in the sky.

She felt safer being near him, but kept huddling closer whenever thunder was heard.

Dusty rocked himself from side to side gently to help calm her a little, even humming a little.

"I got you Dash… you're safe here… I promise." he said quietly.

"Thanks Dusty… I'm glad I got you for a friend…"

Dusty smiled softly as he continued on with calming her down. Trying his best to keep her mind off the storm.

_I remember there was something my mother used to do for me when I was young… I wonder…_

Dusty cleared his throat a little before singing softly to her.

"There's a time… in your life. When the world, is on your side… you might not feel it, you might not see it, but it surrounds you like a light makes you stronger for the fight."

Rainbow felt herself slowly relaxing more as the song continued. Memories of home flooding her mind. Her friends…

_They… They were always there. Even when I didn't realize it… They always brought me back up when I was down… made me strong again… _

"Never letting go, gotta learn to grow, watch as you touch the sky… still you fly. Now you know it's what you gotta do, find your way on home, give it all you got this time, still you fly…"

_Home…_

"Feel the wind, all around, all the courage… to be found. Who knows what's out there? I know you'll get there. Oh off into the sun I know you're on the only that's never letting go gotta learn to grow I'll watch as you touch the sky, still you fly. Now you know it's what you gotta do, find your way on home and give it all you got this time… Still you fly.."

_Dusty…_

"Breathe it in, you're gonna shine, it'll be your moment you gotta live it right… you're flying… flying so strong…"

Rainbow nuzzled him gently. Everything around them faded as he sang on… She found herself at home again with her friends around her. Dusty was there too, as were her teammates. Everyone.

"Never let it go Dash… Never give up."

_I won't… I promise._


	10. Chapter 9: Flight Plan

"Ow ow ow ow! Not so hard!" Rainbow hissed as Dottie was putting on her new braces… and rather tightly at that.

"You brought this on yourself just so you know." Dottie said with a glare. "There, now absolutely no flying whatsoever. Understand?"

Rainbow nodded, sighing. "Yes ma'am."

"Good girl, Dusty, you make sure she doesn't try anything."

Dusty gave a nod as he looked at Rainbow with a soft smile. "I'll keep her safe."

Rainbow smiled back. "Did the crops do okay last night?"

"According to Chug we only lost a few plants, but we'll be okay, we were able to save a lot thanks to harvesting as much as we could."

"Phew…"

"Dottie?"

The three looked to see Sparky at the door with Skipper right behind him.

"Hey Sparky, what's up?" Dottie asked.

Sparky looked to Skipper who gave him a nod.

"Well last night… we found something… or rather, somethings found us."

Skipper backed up a little to reveal two other ponies that were hiding behind him and Sparky… Rainbow's eyes went wide when she saw them… and immediately rushed over to them.

"THORN! LIGHTNING DUST!"

She tackled hugged them both to the ground as they returned the gesture.

"Oh thank Celestia you're okay!" Thorn said.

After a moment Rainbow backed off them, relieved to see them okay… and surprised at the look Lightning had on her face.

"... Lightning… are you… crying?"

Lightning shook her head, standing firm. "NO! I don't cry! … I'm a Jolly Wrench!"

Thorn could help but break down laughing. "Really? That's your best come back?"

Lightning felt a little embarrassed but then broke down laughing as well.

"I'm just glad to see you guys are okay. Where have you been these past few days?" Rainbow asked.

"Trying to find our way around this forsaken place, we nearly got mauled by that monster we encountered when we first got here."

"Ah, the harvester. Accidently tip a tractor?"

"If you mean those cow like creatures, then yes, Thorn scared a whole herd of them."

"YOU HELPED!" Thorn snapped, her cheeks completely flushed. "Don't push it all on me!"

"Alright you two, no fighting, I get it, you've been through the wringer as well." Rainbow said getting between the two.

"And you especially." Lightning said, eying the braces. "Are you unable to fly?"

"Under doctor's orders I'm grounded."

"So… we're not going anywhere fast are we?" Thorn asked.

"Yeah…"

Rainbow sighed. "Though not like we had an idea where we were going, we don't know where the endpoint. All we have is 'go back to where you began,' whatever that means at this point since we know for fact there's no portal where we started."

Thorn rubbed her head a little. "I hate cryptic nonsense SO MUCH."

The three sat in silence as they thought over the phrase till Dusty chimed in.

"Dash, you mentioned you trained on Flysenhower right?"

"Yeah, what about it?"

"Well… the Flysenhower you described to me sounded a lot different from the one I know… But… I can't help but think maybe the answer to your way home might have something to do with the Flysenhower here."

"That's it!" Thorn said, stomping her hoof. "Go back to where you began! We started on Flysenhower before we came here so… we have to go to the Flysenhower that's in this world!"

"That makes sense… now the only problem is we don't know how to get there and Dash is in no condition to fly at all."

"You don't, but Skipper and I do."

The three mares looked to Dusty and Skipper, a bit of a hopeful look in their eyes.

"Do you think you could…?"

"Yes, if Skipper doesn't mind flying along as well." Dusty said, looking to his mentor.

"I don't mind, but with the condition Rainbow Dash is in I'm not sure when we'll be able to leave."

"Actually I might have an idea that could help." Dottie said bringing over what looked like a harness of some sort.

"What's that?" Rainbow asked.

"Old fashion harness that was used to tether forklifts to planes for all sorts of things, I could adjust it so I could tether you to Dusty and he could fly for you."

Rainbow grinned. "That sounds great!"

Dottie nodded. "The only thing I'm worried about is the weather conditions, and if Thorn and Lightning Dust will be able to keep up with Skipper and Dusty."

"They should be fine, though might need to use magic flight to keep up."

"Yeeeeeah about that." Thorn sighed. "We can't use magic flight here. Apparently the whole world without magic applies to those who go into it."

"... Well that explains why I wasn't able to cloud bust but besides the point, so you might not be able to keep up with two planes."

"If Dottie has more of those harnesses maybe she could tether them to Skip?" Dusty suggested.

"I should have more somewhere… Would you be okay with it Skipper?" Dottie asked.

Skipper gave a nod.

"Then the last thing is the weather conditions, it's going to be cold going over the ocean."

"Our Jolly Wrench suits allow us to keep in heat, we'll be fine." Lightning said with a smile. "We just need help getting there."

Dottie smiled. "Then it shall be done, we just need to get Dusty and Skipper prepped for the flight over and get these harnesses adjusted for you."

The three mares nodded.

"Alright then… let's do it."

* * *

It didn't take long to adjust the harnesses and get the mare tethered to the two planes. The only difficulty they had was getting Rainbow back in her Jolly Wrench Uniform while still wearing her braces, but they eventually got around it. After a few good byes to the machines Rainbow had met and become friends with, it was off to Flysenhower.

"Anyone else having Deja vu?" Thorn asked after about an hour in.

"I am." Lightning answered. "Reminds me so much of the flight we had to our Flysenhower, though this time someone else is doing the flying for us." She looked to Skipper giving a bit of a smile. "Thanks again for doing this, it's highly appreciated."

Skipper gave a bit of a smile. "Wrenches stick together."

Lightning nodded and as did Thorn.

Rainbow was resting at the moment, huddled close to Dusty.

_It'll be nice to be home… I got so much I want to tell my friends about… even if they might not believe me. _She thought with a smile.

She opened one eye looking at Dusty. He was focused on his task, keeping track of his surroundings and readings on his dashboard.

_He's been so good to me since I got here… The fact he's doing this for us… he really is a great friend…_

Then a thought crossed her mind about Dusty. After this… would they ever see each other again?

_I don't know if Wrenches are allowed to come here as they please… If anything, they probably only come here once…_

Rainbow found herself frowning a little. She had only had so much time with Dusty and the others… and now it was all just coming to an end.

"You okay, Dash?" Dusty asked, snapping the mare out of her thought train.

"Huh? Oh…" Dash lowered her head a little. "Just… When this is over… I was… I was just thinking about if we would ever see each other again… You've been so good to me Dusty… You took me in despite me being a stranger, you were kind to me, you saved my life… you did a lot of things for me… we became friends over a short amount of time and now… it just ends here…"

Dusty frowned a little. "Some times good things just come to an end… But Dash." His expression changed to a comforting one. "It doesn't mean we'll forget each other or what we've been through… no matter how far apart friends are, you always have a piece of them with you, as corny as that sounds… but it's true."

Rainbow couldn't help but smile a little. "True… and who knows… maybe we will meet again…"

Dusty chuckled a little. "Some how… maybe not the same way… but some how we will. Bonds between friends are strong, and you'd be surprised how they can bring friends back together."

Rainbow nuzzled him. "Oh Dusty…"

"Dash…"

"Hey, Dusty, we're approaching Flysenhower." Skipper radioed. "Prepare yourself for landing."

"Roger that Skip."

The two planes flew their course as the ship came into view. The three mares kept low as the two planes landed. Soon as they had touched down, they moved below them, hanging onto their landing gear as they made their way about the ship.

"Well look who decided to pay us a visit!"

The three mares froze when they heard the voice.

… _No… way._

They looked up to see a plane greeting Dusty that had a familiar looking red helmet on his head. Next to the plane was another one just like it with another familiar helmet design… they couldn't believe their eyes, especially when they saw the names that were written on the helmets.

_ECHO AND BRAVO?! WHEN DID THEY TURN INTO PLANES?!_

"Hey guys, nice to see you again." Dusty said with a smile to the two jets. "Just thought it would be nice to visit, maybe get some practice in."

Echo grinned. "Just like old times, sure thing Dusty."

Dusty nodded. "For now, Skipper and I are pretty tired from the flight, so just give us some time to refuel and rest."

"Of course."

With that, the two planes made their way to the lower levels of the ship. Once they were out of the sight of others planes in a room the three mares came out of their hiding spots.

"I can't believe those two chuckle heads! You think they would have told us they were gonna be here or least say 'Oh by the way we're not just griffons, we're also big Metal Birds' gosh I'm gonna have their beaks when we get home." Thorn yelled as she paced the room.

Rainbow and Lightning kept quiet, but they were thinking the same thing.

Dusty looked at the mares surprised. "You know Echo and Bravo?"

"Know them? They mock us, daily, and train us till our wings fall off." Lightning said with slight irritation in her voice. "And apparently have been lying this whole time about what they really are."

"Um… guys… I don't think the Echo and Bravo here are the same ones you know."

The three mares looked at him confused. "What do you mean?"

"Well… Think about it. Flysenhower exists here and it exists in your world as well, but both are different in what they are. Here it's a boat and in Equestria it's a moving island that's attached to a sea turtle. So maybe… the Echo and Bravo here are plane counterparts to the ones that live in Equestria."

Thorn slumped to the floor holding her head. "... Two of them… there's two of them… As if there weren't enough of them in the universes…"

Lightning and Rainbow shook their heads. "Well it makes sense… speaking of, we need to find that gateway out of here."

Dusty nodded, looking to Skipper.

"Ideas Skip?"

"Let's split up and search different parts of the ship. Lightning Dust and Thorn, you're with me, Dusty is with Rainbow Dash. If one of us finds anything, radio to the other where to go. Simple enough?"

"Yes."

"Then let's move out."


	11. Chapter 10: Part of You and Part of Me

It was a long search throughout the Flysenhower. Hard too since they had to do their best not to draw attention to themselves. It was especially hard when trying to keep the ponies from being seen. Their bright colors were an eyesore.

"Thank goodness for various hiding places." Rainbow said as she continued her search with Dusty down the hallway.

"No kidding, sure a lot of folks at Propwash saw you, but let's just try to keep it at that." Dusty replied as he checked another room. "Hm… still nothing… do you even know what this portal might even look like?"

"I'm thinking it'll look a lot like the one the girls and I went through, but I'm not too sure if that's exactly how it will look."

"Got it."

They came upon one of the many cargo rooms and started looking around.

"And… all I see is boxes… lots… and lots… of boxes." Rainbow sighed. "Just how many rooms does this place have?"

"A lot." Dusty replied. "Remember, this ship shelters a lot of different planes and forklifts, and they have a lot of important supply they need to keep well stocked for them."

"Right…"

_It just never ends…_

After about two hours (according to Skipper) they had search the whole ship from top to bottom and there was no sign of the portal anywhere.

"So… we came here for nothing?" Thorn asked.

"Guess we were wrong about the whole 'go back where you began' clue." Lightning said with sigh. "It's going to take forever to get home now."

Dusty and Skipper looked at the mares with a sympathetic look. They weren't sure about what else they could do for them.

"We'll find our way home… we just need to keep looking." Dash said with confidence in her voice.

"But where do we even go?" Thorn asked.

"Problems, gentlemen and ladies?"

The group gasped as they whirled around to see none other than Echo and Bravo looking at the group, with grins on their faces.

"U-Um…" Dusty couldn't think of anything to say since the ponies were in their line of vision. There was no getting out of this one.

"Calm down, you're not in trouble." Echo chuckled. "We figured something was going on since you came on such short notice."

Bravo rolled over to the mares. "We've been wondering if we were going to see more of these creatures."

Skipper's eyes widened with surprised. "... You… You KNOW about them?"

Bravo nodded. "This is something only a few Wrenches know about since in general their kind don't show themselves that often, but some of us know just in case any of them are having a hard time finding the portal."

Skipper and Dusty were just dumb struck.

_You think this would be something I would know about… _Skipper thought, eyeing the three mares.

"So, let me get this straight, you know about our world and were aware we've been here this whole time?" Lightning asked.

Echo gave what appeared to be a bit of a shrug. "Sort of on the knowing you were here, we never know when any of you are coming through, it's just chance if we happen to find you if you're lost… or we're contacted by someone on the other side."

Lightning's eye twitched a little. "Saying it again, you guys are insane."

Echo and Bravo grinned. "We take pride in it."

Rainbow shook her head. "So… mind showing us the portal?"

"Not at all, right this way."

The planes lead they down a few hallways till they got a specific cargo room. Going in, it was loaded to the ceiling with boxes. But after moving some apart, a door was now visible that was similar to the ones they had entered back in Equestria.

"It will only open when a creature from your world touches it, reason no planes have ever accidentally gone to your world, not that any of us could fit through in the first place, but hey, least they don't know it's here." Bravo explained.

Lightning stepped forward touching the door. It immediately opened, giving off a bright light from the other side.

"Well… end of the road ladies, shall we?" she asked.

Rainbow and Thorn nodded. Lightning entered first, Thorn after. Rainbow was about to enter before she took a step back, looking to the planes behind her.

"Well come on, don't keep them waiting." Echo said.

"Just… give me a sec."

Rainbow galloped over to Dusty, giving him one last nuzzle. He nuzzled back, rolling close to her.

"I'll miss you…" she said quietly, trying to hold back tears.

"I'll miss you too Dash." He smiled softly. "Don't ever give up on your dreams… okay?"

Rainbow nodded as she pulled away from him, looking up.

"We'll see each other again, just… maybe not like this… Remember, we'll always have a part of each other." Dusty said with a grin. He gestured over to the portal. "Now go, you got your friends waiting."

Rainbow nodded as she made her way towards the portal. As she was stepping through she looked back.

"Good bye Dusty…"

"Good bye Dash… Till we meet again."

* * *

On the other side Stone Flame was waiting patiently for Rainbow.

"And the last mare has returned… though seems you've been through quite the trials." He said looking at the braces.

"Yeah… it was rough, but hey, I made it. Where's Lightning and Thorn?"

"They took off as soon as they arrived… they said they had some… 'business' they had to discuss with Echo and Bravo."

"Got ya…"

Rainbow looked down sighing a little.

"Something troubling you my dear?" Stone Flame asked.

"... I have to ask… has any Wrench… befriended a Metal Bird?"

Stone Flame smiled. "Some times… guess you're one of the rare few who got the opportunity to meet one."

"Yeah… wasn't planning on it… I became good friends with one over just a few days… He was kind, caring… he even helped me and my comrades get home… will I ever get to see him again? Are Wrenches allowed to go back?"

Stone Flame gave a solemn look. "I'm afraid not my dear, this is for training purposes only… and Wrenches can only go through once."

_Should've figured… Guess Dusty and I won't be meeting again like he said…_

Stone Flame gently placed a claw on her shoulder.

"I know what you're thinking… I wouldn't think that so soon. For you see… when you enter their world, a part of you stays there… whoever you met while you were there will see you again… it will just be another part of you… and as for you." he tipped his chin up. "I guarantee a part of them is here waiting to meet you."

"R-Really?"

Stone Flame nodded. "Yes… just give it time… Come, let's get those braces off and get you properly treated."

"Right."

Stone Flame lead her away from the portal and to the medical bay. Rainbow took one last look at the door before leaving the room.

_A part of me stayed and is waiting for Dusty… and part of Dusty is waiting here for me…? _

Rainbow wasn't sure what to think… but yet… she felt something was waiting for her. She just had to find it first.


	12. Chapter 11: Meeting Again

It was nice to be back in Equestria. It was good to feel the magic around them again, even if the mares were keeping themselves from using their flight magic.

Echo and Bravo were impressed by what the mares had accomplished… but that had not prevented the wrath that Thorn and Lightning Dust had unleashed upon the two griffons after they were done giving their compliments.

Least… that's what Rainbow had heard. She sadly didn't get to see the event. After she was brought to the Medical Bay she was kept for quite awhile till her wings were fully healed. About a week or so later she was back on roll call.

_Ah, finally glad to be back out in the open air and not being stuck in bed. _Rainbow thought as she closed her eyes, feeling the breeze. She had gotten up early today to celebrate her full recovery and just take some time to think over the thoughts that were still intriguing her before it was time for roll call.

"_I guarantee a part of them is here waiting to meet you."_

Rainbow shook her head as she remembered what Stone Flame said.

"What does he mean by that? Is there an Equestrian Dusty? Is there someone like him? Ugh, I can see why Thorn doesn't like cryptic nonsense… it's just… headache inducing."

She sighed as she looked up at the sky. She could just imagine the crop duster just flying over and saying hello to her as he carried on with whatever he was doing. But she knew she would never see him here.

_Keep your hopes low… you'll just disappoint yourself._

"ROLL CALL!"

_Already?_

Rainbow hurried over to her spot in line as her two companions showed up. Both looking exhausted.

_Training must've been hard yesterday. _Rainbow thought.

She even noticed that Thorn and Lightning Dust had their pillows with them in their mouths.

_Okay… really hard._

Echo and Bravo approached them with unimpressed looks on their faces as they saw the pillows.

"... How many times have we told you two?: Pillows in your barracks, not in your mouths!" Echo shouted.

The two mares just rolled their eyes, chucking their pillows at them.

"Not our fault we're so dead tired." Thorn said with a yawn.

The two griffons just shook their heads.

"Aside from that, welcome back to training, Rainbow Dash." Bravo said with a grin. "Glad to have you with us again."

"Good to be back, sir." Rainbow replied, keeping her form.

"Just in time too, there's a trainee that's been wanting to meet you." Echo chuckled. "When we told him you were on the Flysenhower he just couldn't wait to meet you."

_Him?_

"We're gonna take Lightning and Thorn here up in the skies, you wait here, he'll be here soon with his drill instructor."

Echo and Bravo left with Lightning and Thorn without another word. Rainbow sat where she was, looking up at the sky.

_Well… this should be interesting._

After a few moments, a big blue dragon soared through the sky with a stallion right beside it. She could tell the two were talking but she couldn't make out any of the conversation going on between the two, but the stallion's appearance caught her attention. She couldn't see much of him… but she couldn't help but notice that sun was reflecting a lot off the stallion's wings… and not just in a few spots because of Air Glider Feathers… it was the whole thing.

The two came around the island before landing. It was then Rainbow realized why she had seen what she had saw with the stallion's wings. They were artificial wings… the same ones she had seen on the Earth Pony from the Wings Around Equestria… and it was the same pony that was standing right over there.

_What's he doing here? _Rainbow thought.

The dragon looked over to Rainbow, grinning a bit.

"Looks like Echo and Bravo kept their promise, look who's here."

_That voice…_

The stallion looked over to Rainbow, a grin creeping across his face as he made his way over to her.

"Rainbow Dash, right?" he asked.

"Yes…"

Rainbow looked the stallion over carefully. He was still the same as he had appeared on the monitor from before, save he was now in a Jolly Wrenches uniform… but now something seemed familiar about him.

The stallion gave a bow. "It is an honor to meet you."

Rainbow gave a sheepish look.

"I'm not that special… and it's nice to meet you too.. um… what's your name?"

The stallion chuckled. "Where are my manners?" He stood up fully, locking eyes with her. "I'm Dusty, Dusty Crophopper."

Rainbow eyes went wide as a gasp escaped her mouth.

_D… Dusty…?_

She could see the resemblance now… especially in the eyes… they were the exact same color…

It was his turn to give a sheepish look. "I guess you heard about my win with the whole Wings Around Equestria Rally… please, I'm no different than any pony else-"

Dusty didn't get to finish his sentence as Rainbow threw her hooves around his neck, hugging close to him. He wasn't entirely sure how to react, but slowly brought his hooves up around her.

"Hey… you okay?" he asked.

"Y-Yeah just…" Rainbow choked on her words a little. "Sorry…"

Dusty smiled gently. "It's okay…"

After a moment, Rainbow pulled away wiping one of her eyes.

"You… You just remind me of somepony I met… and… and what you did in the Wings Around Equestria… that was truly inspiring… you're a hero Dusty."

He blushed a little, lowering his wings. "That means a lot hearing that from somepony like you."

Rainbow giggled. "Hey, you're awesome, don't need to be so modest."

Dusty grinned.

The dragon he had flown in with came over to join them.

"Everything alright over here?" he asked. "Looked like somepony was upset."

Rainbow recognized the voice. _Skipper's here too…_

"Everything's fine Skip, apparently I reminded her of somepony she knew." Dusty answered.

_If he only knew…_

"Good."

Rainbow smiled. "Hey, Dusty?"

He looked over to her. "Yeah?"

"Wanna go for a flight?"

He grinned. "Would love to."

Rainbow made her way over to runway, a smirk crossing her face.

"Last one to the other end of the island owes the other a cup of cider."

"You're on!"

The two ponies shot off like bullets into the sky, both laughing as they raced each other. Rainbow couldn't help but watch Dusty fly. The way he moved and acted… it was just like the one she had met.

_The other part of him… _

He looked to her giving a warm smile and for a moment… she could've sworn she saw the crop duster in the pony's place.

"_Some how… maybe not the same way… but some how we will. Bonds between friends are strong, and you'd be surprised how they can bring friends back together."_

Rainbow smiled back.

_Yeah… together again… just in a different way._


	13. Epilogue: Home

"Heh… look at those two, you would think they've known each other since they were foals." Jet Stream said with a chuckle.

Lightning Dust was sitting with Jet Stream in one of the recreation rooms. Both were eyeing Rainbow Dash and Dusty who were chatting up a storm.

Lightning smiled. "Well… considering the Metal Bird she met during our training it's no surprise."

Jet Stream nodded. "True… rare occasion, but not unheard of here. Just doesn't happen enough that every pony or creature here meets the Equestrian double of the Metal Bird or whatever creature they met."

"I have to ask though… is there an Equestrian equivalent of every creature there here, and is there equivalents of us in their world?"

"Em… it's weird how this whole thing works, even we don't get it majority of the time. But from what Stone Flame has told us, there is an Equestrian equivalent of every creature from there. Not all of them are ponies of course, but they have a double here. Also names might not be the same, but they are the double of the creature from there. As for equivalents of us in the Metal Bird World… you only have a double if you've been there."

"So… since the girls and I went through there are most likely Metal Bird doubles of us now?"

"According to what Stone Flame has told us, yes, it's because a part of us stays in that world, especially if one of us made contact with a creature from there. Cause in time, the creature that some pony made friends with will meet their double since the double will be drawn to them, in their own way of course."

"Like how the Dusty here wanted to meet Dash because he had heard of her."

"Yep, so I'd bet bits that the original Dusty will be meeting someone like Rainbow Dash in his world very soon."

"I remember hearing Dusty telling Dash that some how they would meet again but maybe not under the same circumstances… I think he knew that their was another version of him here since he knew about Echo and Bravo having doubles. So he might be keeping an eye out for a Rainbow Dash in his world."

"Smart Metal Bird."

Jet Stream looked at the two ponies again. The two had broken down laughing.

"Really? He did THAT?" she asked between laughs.

Dusty nodded, trying his best to answer between his own laughs. "I'm serious! Don't let anything distract you he says, and then bam, he's distracted by Rochelle."

"I'm sure the Dash he'll meet will probably be very much like her." Jet said with a smile.

"Yeah.. the two got so close… it's nice to know they can be with each other again some how."

Jet Stream gave a nod. "Training together… probably will be keeping in contact even after you girls leave… which is coming up soon if I'm not mistaken."

"Yep… well for two of us anyway."

Jet Stream cocked an eyebrow. "So I heard right, that one of you is staying here to become a full fledged Wrench?"

"Yep… That one staying being me."

"I thought you wanted to be a Wonderbolt?"

"I did… but…" Lightning sighed. "I doubt it would ever happen due to my reputation at the Academy… I have no chance whatsoever and it was just uncomfortable back there… here, I feel so much better. Sure, some know what I did but they aren't judging me completely based on that… I feel… welcomed here."

Jet gave a warm smile. "You screwed up, we're aware, but everypony deserves a second chance and you've been working hard to adapt to our ways, I'm sure in time you'll make a great Jolly Wrench."

Lightning smiled back. "Thanks Jet Stream… that means a lot."

* * *

"Okay, that should be the last of my things." Thorn said as she finished packing up her saddle bag. "Hard to believe our training is finally over… how long were we here again?"

"About 2 months." Lightning answered as she watched her two companions pack. "Time flew faster than we realized it."

"Yeah and I certainly didn't keep track of it."

The two looked over to Rainbow who was trying to shove a bunch of letter into a box to put in her saddle bag.

"Where did all those come from?" Thorn asked.

"My friends… mainly Pinkie Pie… who wrote a letter… every day."

"Wow."

"Yeah, she just kept worrying about me forgetting who she was, she especially freaked when I wasn't writing back."

"I'm guessing the times you weren't writing back is when we were with the Metal Birds."

"Yep, took like three letters before she finally calmed down."

After a few more stomps, Rainbow was finally able to seal the box. "Finally…"

"Well, soon as your home she can calm down all together, might not recognize you in the Wrench uniform though, can't believe they're letting us keep them."

"We're Honorary Wrenches like Dusty so of course we get to keep them."

"Speaking of, I heard he's planning on visiting your hometown after he makes a stop at his right?"

"Yep, I want him to meet all my friends and I want to meet his, so he's gonna stop at Propwash to get them together."

"Awesome."

"Yep… Well, that's everything, we better get going."

The two mares slung their saddle bags over their backs and made their way out, Lightning following close behind.

Up on the runway, Echo, Bravo, Dusty, and Skipper were waiting, with plenty of other Jolly Wrenches off to the side.

"Your training has come to close, you're now Honorary Jolly Wrenches, how does that feel?" Echo asked the group of ponies before him.

"Feels great." Dusty said with a smile on his face.

Thorn and Rainbow nodded in agreement.

"We wish you luck, where ever your future may take you."

Echo and Bravo moved to the side, joining their fellow Wrenches. Lightning stood by them, with Jet Stream beside her.

"All attention on deck! Salute! VICTORY!" Bravo shouted.

"VICTORY!" the Wrenches shouted, saluting.

The ponies and dragon got in position to take off.

Rainbow and Thorn gave Lightning one last look. She smiled at them, mouthing good bye.

They nodded and then took off to the skies with Dusty and Skipper.

"YEEEAAH!" Dusty yelled as they soared through the sky.

Rainbow, Thorn, and Skipper joined in with him as they made their way around Flysenhower.

"I'll see you in Ponyville, Dusty!" Rainbow shouted.

Dusty nodded as he and Skipper took off in their direction.

"Last one to Propwash buys!" he shouted to Skipper.

"You're on!"

Rainbow and Thorn chuckled as they watched the two disappear into the distance.

"We better get to Spitfire."

"Right."

The two mares took off for the west, heading straight for the Wonderbolts Academy. They looked behind them as Flysenhower disappeared from their view.

"I hope we can visit some time to check on Lightning Dust, it's weird not having her with us."

"Yeah, but I think she'll be happier there, besides, no pony ever said Wonderbolts and Jolly Wrenches don't butt heads here and there."

"True."

The trip to the Academy didn't feel as long as their trip to Flysenhower. They were tehre in a good amount of time. They gave their reports to Spitfire and had told her what had become of Lightning Dust. She seemed pleased with the results and was approving of Lightning's choice, agreeing she would be better off with the Wrenches. They didn't speak of the Metal Birds, but felt it was alright to leave that part out. All they had to say was that the training was a success.

After about an hour the mares were allowed to return to their homes. Thorn and Rainbow said their goodbyes and quickly made their way home.

_Ah… home sweet home… _Rainbow thought as she saw Ponyville come into view.

She made quick stop at her house to drop off her saddle bags before going into town. When she got there it was dead quiet. She couldn't see any pony in sight.

_Hm… town is dead quiet, no one is outside… this can only mean one thing._

Rainbow grinned as she made her way over to Sugar Cube Corner.

Soon as she was at the door she started counting down in her head.

_3… 2… 1… _

She opened the door and was greeted with a loud "SURPRISE!" on the other side.

She laughed as she saw all her friends gathered around a table along with some of the other residences of Ponyville she knew. There was a banner that said "Welcome home Rainbow Dash!" and a big cake on the table that said the same thing with her cutie mark on it.

"You're home!" Pinkie squealed tackling her friend to the ground with a hug. Her other friends joined in the hug as Rainbow hugged them back.

"Great to be home." she said with a smile.

Her friends gave her some space, looking at her new uniform.

"Ooo… tough look." Pinkie whispered, tapping on the metal place that had the Jolly Wrenches insignia on it.

"Yeah, it was from the training." Rainbow chuckled.

"Well you look absolutely wonderful." Rarity said. "Though I would change a few things about it."

"No touchy, my trainers wouldn't like it if you changed anything."

"Didn't say I was."

Rainbow chuckled.

"Glad to have you home safe and sound Rainbow, we got a little worried when weren't hearing from you." Apple Jack said giving Rainbow another hug.

"We just had an intense training week, couldn't find time to write."

"You're okay, that's all that matters." Fluttershy said softly with a smile.

Rainbow nodded.

Twilight came up to her smiling, levitating a scroll over to her. "And as your welcome home present, I got the full report I promised about the Wings Around Equestria Rally."

Rainbow grinned. "Thanks Twilight, I'll be sure to give it a good read."

She took the scroll, tucking it into her harness. "But for now, I just want to spend my time with you guys. I got a lot I want to tell you about, without giving too much away of course."

"Well come on in, lots of ponies want to know how their favorite flyer is doing." Pinkie squealed, leading Rainbow over to a chair she could sit in.

Rainbow chuckled, looking at all the ponies that were gathering around to listen. She sighed happily.

_It's good to be home..._

**The End**


End file.
